No. 1 South Carolina rallies to knock off No. 2 Stanford. What we learned
No. 1 South Carolina women’s basketball succeeded Tuesday in its toughest challenge of the season, defeating the No. 2 Stanford Cardinal 65-61 in front of 13,079 fans at Colonial Life Arena.
An Aliyah Boston go-ahead jumper with just over one minute to go paired with three of four made Destiny Littleton free throws in the final 12 seconds sealed the victory for the Gamecocks (12-0) as they escaped their home court with a win over the Cardinal, which led the contest by 18 points in the first half.
Tuesday’s win over Stanford was the Gamecocks’ largest comeback victory in program history, according to ESPN.
Boston led the Gamecocks with 18 points in the victory and earned a bit of redemption from last year’s one-point loss to Stanford in the NCAA Final Four. Stanford’s Lexie Hull scored 17 points, while Francesca Belibi added 12 points off the bench for the Cardinal (8-3).
“I just feel with every big win that we have, it instills some confidence in our team,” head coach Dawn Staley said after the game.
The Gamecocks are now the first team since 2011-12 Baylor to win multiple regular season matchups between No. 1 and No. 2 teams, adding Tuesday’s win to a top-two victory over then-No. 2 UConn in November.
Here’s what we learned about the Gamecocks.
Destanni Henderson’s presence makes a difference
Starting point guard Destanni Henderson hadn’t seen the floor since the first half against North Carolina A&T on Nov. 29, and her return from a leg injury Tuesday night was exactly what the Gamecocks needed.
Henderson played a principal role in the Gamecocks’ third-quarter comeback, in which USC outscored Stanford 22-7 after going into halftime facing a 14-point deficit. Henderson grabbed five steals in the third quarter, contributing to South Carolina’s 12 points off Stanford turnovers in that period.
Henderson finished the night playing 31 minutes after Staley told ESPN’s Andraya Carter before the game she wouldn’t be limited. She scored 17 points and added seven assists and seven steals to her stat line Tuesday.
“Her one-on-one defense was great,” Staley said. “Her ability to just get some steals and get some breakout layups is what we needed to jump-start our offense.”
Henderson’s seven fourth-quarter points added to the Gamecocks’ 15-12 advantage in the fourth quarter, sealing the win over Stanford.
The Gamecocks weren’t at full health against Stanford, however, as LeLe Grissett was not present at the game due to “health and safety protocols,” the school announced about an hour to tip-off.
Massive third quarter, Stanford turnovers lift Gamecocks to win
When South Carolina went into halftime with a double-digit deficit, Staley schemed up a third-quarter plan that put them right back into the game.
The Gamecocks used a 22-7 third period to head into the fourth quarter with a one-point lead.
“I think to have to come out of the locker room because we’re down, or we didn’t play the way we needed to play, I think sometimes it allows us to calibrate a little bit,” Staley said after the game. “(We can) do the habits that we created. Like with Stanford, we certainly had to defend.”
Stanford committed seven turnovers in the third quarter, which South Carolina turned into 12 points. The Cardinal finished the game with 20 turnovers compared with the Gamecocks’ seven, and Staley pointed out the margin as one of the main positives she took from Tuesday’s game.
Gamecocks overcome steepest halftime deficit in three years
South Carolina went into the locker room down to Stanford by 14 points, its largest halftime deficit in the past three seasons. The Gamecocks shot 28.6% from the field compared to the Cardinal’s 53.1%.
South Carolina had trouble neutralizing the Cardinal from behind the arc, as Stanford made six of its 11 attempts from 3-point range in the first half. Stanford’s Hull scored 14 points on 60% from the field in 11 minutes of the first half.
The Gamecocks were uncharacteristically out-rebounded 25-20 in the first half, with only Boston shooting in double figures through the game’s first 20 minutes. They finished the game narrowly losing the rebounding margin 40-38, though they grabbed 18 offensive boards compared to Stanford’s 11.
Staley called Stanford’s 42-point performance against the Gamecocks in the first half “a clinic.”
“We allowed them to catch the ball where they wanted to catch the ball in the first half, move the ball, back-door us,” Staley said.
Though South Carolina outscored Stanford 37-19 in the last two quarters, Staley said she’s hoping to see more offensive consistency in all four periods moving forward.
Big wins for the Gamecocks
This season’s victories over AP Top 25 teams
- Nov. 9: No. 1 South Carolina 66, No. 5 NC State 57
- Nov. 21: No. 1 South Carolina 80, No. 9 Oregon 63
- Nov. 22: No. 1 South Carolina 73, No. 2 UConn 57
- Dec. 12: No. 1 South Carolina 66, No. 8 Maryland 59
- Dec. 15: No. 1 South Carolina 55, No. 15 Duke 46
- Dec. 21: No. 1 South Carolina 65, No. 2 Stanford 61
South Carolina 65, Stanford 61
STANFORD (8-3)—Brink 1-7 1-1 3, Lacie Hull 1-1 0-0 3, Lexie Hull 7-17 1-2 17, Jones 4-8 3-4 11, Jump 3-8 0-0 9, Belibi 6-9 0-0 12, Prechtel 1-3 1-3 3, Hamilton 0-1 0-0 0, Wilson 1-2 0-0 3, Emma-Nnopu 0-0 0-0 0, Team 0-0 0-0 0, Totals 24-56 6-10 61
SOUTH CAROLINA (12-0)—Boston 8-20 1-2 18, Saxton 3-7 1-2 7, Beal 2-8 1-1 6, Cooke 1-9 1-2 4, Henderson 8-13 1-2 17, Amihere 2-9 0-0 4, Cardoso 1-4 1-2 3, Littleton 1-2 3-4 6, Hall 0-0 0-0 0, Rivers 0-1 0-0 0, Team 0-0 0-0 0, Totals 26-73 9-15 65
Halftime—Stanford 42-28. 3-Point Goals—Stanford 7-15 (La.Hull 1-1, Le.Hull 2-4, Jones 0-1, Jump 3-7, Prechtel 0-1, Wilson 1-1), South Carolina 4-16 (Boston 1-4, Beal 1-4, Cooke 1-3, Henderson 0-2, Littleton 1-2, Rivers 0-1). Assists—Stanford 15 (Prechtel 4), South Carolina 12 (Henderson 7). Fouled Out—None. Rebounds—Stanford 40 (Team 6-9), South Carolina 38 (Saxton 8-10). Total Fouls—Stanford 18, South Carolina 11. Technical Fouls—None. A—13,079.
Next South Carolina game
Who: USC at Missouri
When: 7 p.m. Dec. 30
Where: Mizzou Arena in Columbia, Mo.
Watch: SEC Network
This story was originally published December 21, 2021 at 9:04 PM.
