Gamecocks play beautiful basketball in rout of Rebels

That’s the team Ole Miss wants to have someday.

It’s just no fun being beaten by it now.

Second-ranked South Carolina’s multitude of All-American talent routed the Rebels 81-62 on Thursday, displaying a masterful and unselfish offense that was simply too much for Ole Miss to handle. The Rebels (10-10, 2-5 SEC) had a very sharp offensive attack, setting crisp screens and finding set shots all over the floor. They shot 48.1 percent.

But they had no answer for the Gamecocks’ stars, who were as charitable with their points as they were stingy with the Rebels.’

“Our kids were scared to death,” Ole Miss coach Matt Insell said. “I thought the first eight minutes of the game, our girls were scared to death.”

“We like to play basketball a certain way,” Dawn Staley said. “We’re playing really good defense nowadays.”

USC put three in double figures and had 24 assists on 31 field goals. The game plan was the usual early – find A’ja Wilson – and the Gamecocks (20-0, 8-0) padded their initial lead by transforming turnovers into points. Placing 6-foot-4 center Alaina Coates at the top of a zone defense in the first period helped limit the Rebels’ shooters beside Shandricka Sessom; while Sessom was the beneficiary of Ole Miss’ numerous screens and backdoor cuts, finishing with 26 points, she had scarce help.

Nobody else was in double figures. The Rebels were a mere 3-of-19 on 3-pointers, which had been a strength. They knew they couldn’t handle USC’s height and were out-rebounded 45-28, but they figured if they could run their game and not make mistakes, they could hang in.

The Gamecocks ended that hope early, scoring 12 first-half points off 10 turnovers. They ended with 18 off 14, 17 on second chances and 15 on fast breaks. With everybody getting their chance to score, USC was as fluid as it’s looked all season.

“Just hearing that number, we do look to get in the paint a lot but we had a lot of other looks from other people,” said Coates, who had 13 points and 14 rebounds. “For us, we don’t normally feel we move the ball as well so to have one of those kind of games is a confidence-booster.”

Asia Dozier and Khadijah Sessions each had five assists while Tiffany Mitchell and Tina Roy had four each. Eight of the 10 Gamecocks that played had at least one dime.

“When the basketball is played like that, it’s beautiful,” Staley said. “Everybody feels they’re a part of it.”

NOTE: Former Gamecock Brett Ball is a graduate manager at Ole Miss. Ball, signed by the Gamecocks in 2011, was medically disqualified due to a heart defect before she ever played a game. She stayed at USC as the team’s embedded reporter before returning to her native Mississippi.

TURNING POINT

Mitchell spied Dozier in the opposite corner and rainbowed a pass to her, which Dozier turned into a 3-pointer. It was her only basket of the game but put the Gamecocks up by 24.

It was on the back end of the Gamecocks scoring on their first seven possessions of the third quarter and the Rebels were down to stay.

3 POINTS

Star of the game: Wilson continued to campaign for SEC Player of the Year with 17 points, nine rebounds, two assists, a block and a steal in a tidy 26 minutes. She scored USC’s first six points and eight of the first 11.

Play of the game: Sessions picked up a loose ball and had an escort of two white jerseys to the basket. Nearing the hole, she stumbled and recovered, but as she got the ball back, she seemed confused, facing the other way.

She threw to a surprised Mitchell, but Mitchell touch-passed it to Coates for the lay-in.

Stat of the game: 24 assists on 31 field goals. It was one off the season-high.

FROM THE BASELINE

Driver’s seat: The win brings a rematch against Texas A&M, which the Gamecocks only beat by a point at home a week ago. Now they’ll head on the road, where the Aggies handed them one of their three SEC losses over the past three seasons. Lose, and A&M is right back in the hunt for the SEC title.

Win, and the Gamecocks can go ahead and get ring-sized.

Named after Manning?: Wilson introduced “Eli” to the media. Eli is a small stuffed bear that originally belonged to Mitchell. Wilson informed the crowd that Eli will be traveling to all the road games and be a fixture at future games – and he already has his own Twitter at @GamecockEli.

Perhaps he needs to meet Byron the Bunny, Reptar and the Avatar Spirit Stick.

UP NEXT

Who: South Carolina at No. 10 Texas A&M

When: 6 p.m. Sunday

Where: Reed Arena, College Station, Texas

TV: ESPN2

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This story was originally published January 28, 2016 at 8:49 PM with the headline "Gamecocks play beautiful basketball in rout of Rebels."