Flex and advance: South Carolina routs Oregon State to return to Sweet 16

Heading into Tuesday’s NCAA women’s basketball tournament second round game, Oregon State was the nation’s top 3-point shooting team. South Carolina took that away.

Oregon State’s attack was noted for its crisp ball movement. South Carolina disrupted that.

Oregon State’s length and height rivaled any team in the country. South Carolina overwhelmed that.

Everything the No. 8 seed Beavers did well, the No. 1 seed Gamecocks shut down en route to a dominant 59-42 victory and the program’s seventh consecutive berth into the Sweet 16.

“This is a huge lift off of our shoulders, because that was a hard game,” USC coach Dawn Staley said. “That was a hard game. I know the score doesn’t say that, but the preparation for it — Oregon State is a really good, efficient basketball team. If you allow them to do what they set out to do, they’re very good at it. You have to find a way to disrupt, and I thought we found a way to disrupt. And I don’t think our players want to go back to the hotel and pack and head out tonight. ... I think they wanted to stay a little bit longer.”

Sophomore forward Aliyah Boston led USC with 19 points, while junior guard Destanni Henderson added a dozen and sophomore guard Zia Cooke tallied 10 points, five rebounds and two assists.

But it was really the defense that shined brightest for the Gamecocks. The Beavers entered the contest shooting 45.8% from the field, a top-20 mark in the nation. They shot just 31.6% against USC, their second-worst output of the year. They came in shooting 3-pointers at 41.5%, the best mark in the country. They shot just 15.8% from distance Tuesday.

“We put a lot, a lot of energy into making sure that they didn’t get off and be as efficient as they usually are,” Staley said. “I mean, if you look at their cumulative stats, they’re staggering, all of them. They shoot well into the upper 40s, 50s from 2 and 3. It takes you back, and you got to figure out a game plan which won’t allow those numbers, those percentages to play a part in the result of the game. So we went out and just played gritty.”

3 OBSERVATIONS

1. Competitive early

Despite the lopsided final score, the game was actually close to start, as both teams began with a deliberate pace and some trouble shooting the ball. South Carolina made just two of its first 11 shots, while Oregon State was 3 of 9.

Just about the only Gamecock who could get anything going was Boston, who was simply dominant in the low post. OSU’s second-leading scorer and top rebounder, Taylor Jones, picked up two quick fouls trying to defend her, and her 6-foot-9 replacement, Jelena Mitrovic, had no more luck. By the end of the first quarter, Boston had eight points and the score was a tight 14-13.

“Yes, 100%,” Boston said when asked if getting Jones in foul trouble was a priority early on. “That’s definitely something that we talked about, just getting her into foul trouble, actually getting their bigs in foul trouble, so that we don’t have to worry about them the whole game.”

2. Second quarter breakaway

Into the next quarter, things remained tight to start. But as the Gamecocks started to ratchet up the defensive pressure, Oregon State started getting sloppy.

After turning the ball over just twice in the opening quarter, OSU coughed up seven giveaways in the second. And South Carolina, which didn’t get any points off turnovers in the first quarter, were able to translate the second-quarter mistakes into nine points off turnovers.

On top of that, coach Dawn Staley was able to rest Boston, taking her out of the game shortly before the second media timeout. With their star on the bench, the Gamecocks kept the pressure up, reeling off an 11-2 run to take a 30-18 advantage into the halftime break.

“That was so exciting,” said Boston, who was particularly active celebrating her teammates from the bench. “We had the bench turnt, I’ll tell you that, OK? We were going crazy. I mean, I was just really excited. I think everyone who was on the court did a great job pushing the ball, they were talking on defense, getting steals and just executing how we want to play.”

3. Not just points

While Henderson, Cooke and Boston were the only Gamecocks to reach double figures in scoring, they were far from the only impactful players on the floor. Their fellow starters, junior forward Victaria Saxton and sophomore guard Brea Beal, contributed in other ways. Saxton tallied five blocks and three steals, while Beal had a team-high 11 rebounds, two steals and a block.

Both Beal and Saxton got their first points of the game in the third quarter, as South Carolina picked up where it had left off going into halftime and got a 13-3 run to fully open the rout.

“Victaria Saxton was awesome,” Staley said. “Like incredibly locked in to what she needed to do and, and then everybody else just fell into place as far as being linked up.”

Sophomore forward Laeticia Amihere, coming off the bench, had a productive night as well, tallying eight points and nine rebounds.

NEXT USC BASKETBALL GAME

What: NCAA tournament Sweet 16

Who: No. 1 seed South Carolina vs. No. 5 seed Georgia Tech

When: 1 p.m. Sunday

Where: Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas

Watch: ABC

South Carolina vs Oregon State NCAA box score

OREGON ST. (12-8)—Corosdale 0-3 0-0 0, Jones 6-10 1-3 13, Mack 0-5 0-0 0, Goforth 3-8 0-0 6, Goodman 4-15 0-0 10, Mitrovic 2-5 1-2 5, Simmons 1-1 0-0 2, Von Oelhoffen 1-8 0-0 3, Samuel 1-2 1-1 3, Team 0-0 0-0 0, Totals 18-57 3-6 42

SOUTH CAROLINA (24-4)—Boston 6-13 7-9 19, Saxton 2-5 3-3 7, Beal 1-3 0-0 3, Cooke 5-14 0-0 10, Henderson 5-15 2-2 12, Amihere 3-6 2-4 8, Wesolek 0-0 0-0 0, Littleton 0-4 0-0 0, Thompson 0-1 0-0 0, Russell 0-1 0-0 0, Team 0-0 0-0 0, Totals 22-62 14-18 59

HALFTIME—South Carolina 30-18. 3-Point Goals—Oregon St. 3-19 (Corosdale 0-3, Mack 0-5, Goforth 0-1, Goodman 2-6, Von Oelhoffen 1-4), South Carolina 1-15 (Boston 0-2, Beal 1-3, Cooke 0-4, Henderson 0-3, Littleton 0-2, Thompson 0-1). Assists—Oregon St. 11 (Goodman 6), South Carolina 8 (Saxton 2). Fouled Out—Oregon St. Jones. Rebounds—Oregon St. 32 (Mitrovic 2-5), South Carolina 50 (Boston 3-7). Total Fouls—Oregon St. 15, South Carolina 12. Technical Fouls—Oregon St. Team 1, South Carolina Team 1.

This story was originally published March 23, 2021 at 8:50 PM.

Greg Hadley

The State

Covering University of South Carolina football, women’s basketball and baseball for GoGamecocks and The State, along with Columbia city council and other news.