On-court squabble provides fuel and ‘focus’ for No. 1 USC to pull away, rout Maryland
South Carolina and Maryland played a physical game Friday night. Both sides forced turnovers, drew offensive fouls and limited easy looks.
The scrappiness from both sides materialized into a late third-quarter, on-court altercation that featured a lot of jawing and resulted in a pair of technical fouls and one intentional foul.
Tension quickly rose from the brief skirmish in the Xfinity Center. For the Gamecocks, who were leading 46-38 but struggling from the field at that time, the moment gave them a jolt.
“We just focused a little bit more,” head coach Dawn Staley said. “Things like that happen in some games, great environment. Two teams that were competing at the highest level, it was a back and forth.”
USC scored eight unanswered points after a Maryland free throw. Kamilla Cardoso — who was tagged with an intentional foul after pushing away a Maryland player — scored four points in a three-possession span. In between, Zia Cooke knocked down a three-pointer and busted out a small dance afterward. Laeticia Amihere sent a Terrapin shot out of bounds, offering an intense look after the block.
From there, the lead ballooned as high as 27 points, and USC went on to win 81-56.
“It wasn’t planned for it to go like that, but it definitely did motivate us to want to win a lot more after that happened,” Cooke said. “But we also didn’t want it to distract us. We wanted to stay focused, let it be behind us and continue to play.”
The defensive intensity yielded a low-scoring and inefficient first half for both offenses. Maryland and South Carolina each shot less than 38% from the floor in the first 20 minutes.
The most effective player from either side was Terrapins guard Abby Meyers, who scored 16 of her 21 points in the first half. Aliyah Boston was 4-of-4 with eight points in the first quarter, but didn’t attempt a shot in the second.
The Gamecocks took control after halftime.
South Carolina made 56% of its third-quarter shots and took 12 free throws. Cooke had 10 in the period, and Boston and Cardoso combined for 14 points on 6-of-6 shooting.
Meyers was also limited after her hot first half, as the Gamecocks showed her different looks with their defense and slowed down her production.
“We’ve got a lot of players that we can run at people,” Staley said. “We got back in transition a little bit better. And we just tried to make it really hard for her.”
USC led by eight points before the technical fouls, but outscored the Terrapins 30-17 by the end of the quarter. The lead never dropped to single digits again.
“It took extra passes, extra ball movement, making sure that we’re crashing the boards,” Boston said. “I think we used that to our advantage tonight.”
It took time for the Gamecocks to find a flow offensively. Maryland trapped Boston near the basket early on in the game and USC struggled to hit outside shots.
The Gamecocks countered the physicality with their size.
South Carolina’s height advantage overwhelmed the Terrapins over the course of the game The team often kept the 6-foot-5 Boston and 6-foot-7 Cardoso on the court at the same time, and mixed in Amihere and Victaria Saxton as well. At one point, all four players were on the court at the same time.
“They’re big, and they’re all athletic,” Cooke said. “That’s definitely something coach said: We can put in a group full of big girls and execute.”
In a game like Friday’s, South Carolina’s size proves useful. But beyond that, the mental stability it showed helped guide the team to victory.
“I just thought our players just came together, beared down and concentrated a little bit more,” Staley said.
This story was originally published November 11, 2022 at 11:10 PM.
