Gamecocks improve to 2-0 in Hawaii with win over CS Bakersfield

At Honolulu, Hawaii, second-ranked South Carolina won another game in what’s becoming an increasingly frustrating trend – the Gamecocks (6-0) took the victory, but didn’t look particularly good doing it.

USC beat Cal State Bakersfield (1-4) 90-71 on Saturday in its second game of the Waikiki Beach Marriott Rainbow Wahine Shootout, but again had to overcome a sloppy performance. While the numbers were great – 55 percent shooting, three in double figures and sparse turnovers (five) – USC allowed an undermanned and inferior team to hang around much longer than it could have.

Free-throw struggles returned after a couple of good games. It was Alaina Coates’ turn in the get-the-ball-inside-but-don’t-score-it carousel (Coates was 3-of-10 for six points). USC put it away in the fourth, but was still scratching its collective head over a mercurial performance.

The brilliance of A’ja Wilson propelled the Gamecocks, the sophomore scoring 26 with eight rebounds and four assists.

“She played extremely well,” coach Dawn Staley said. “I’m really proud of how she played, just played with a lot of poise, let the game come to her. I thought she was forceful in some areas, but her ability to play out of the double team and seeing teammates for easy baskets was a great thing for her to experience tonight.”

Bianca Cuevas had her second straight strong game with 20 points. Cuevas shot 8 of 12 from the field and had six assists.

“For her to have these back-to-back performances like this is great,” Staley said. “It’s great for her confidence, it’s great for her building trust with our coaching staff and I’m happy for her. I just don’t want her to get too high with the highs or too low with the lows, just maintain and she can have that kind of effort.”

Tiffany Mitchell added 13.

Batabe Zempare led the Roadrunners (1-4) with 19 points and eight rebounds. Alyssa Shnnon added 11 points and five assists, and Erika Williams had 10 points and four assists.

Cal State Bakersfield was 8-of-18 on 3-pointers and 13-of-15 from the line.

South Carolina led 45-37 at the half.

The Roadrunners trailed 27-14 after the first quarter, but got within four points twice in the third quarter, on a runner by Alyssa Shannon at the 8:12 mark and again on a floater by Williams with 6:35 left in the period.

Shay Colley scored on three straight possessions near the end of the third to stretch the lead back to 59-50.

Bakersfield cut it to 66-61 on Dajy Vine’s basket off an assist from Shannon, but USC scored on seven of its next nine possessions to make it 77-63.

The Gamecocks closed out the game on a 10-2 run.

The Gamecocks will conclude their stay on the islands by playing host Hawaii at 10 p.m. on Sunday.

This story was originally published November 28, 2015 at 8:28 PM.