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South Carolina women's basketball: Aliyah Boston and the Gamecocks dominate Auburn

On3 imageby: Chris Wellbaum01/06/23ChrisWellbaum
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Aliyah Boston (Photo by Chris Gillespie)

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South Carolina bounced back from a disappointing game against Georgia to dominate Auburn for a 94-42 win.

Officially, South Carolina needed just one second to take the lead. Victaria Saxton won the toss, tipped it to Aliyah Boston, who bounce-passed to a streaking Zia Cooke for the layup. South Carolina tried the same play a week ago against Texas A&M, but Cooke was fouled on the layup attempt.

Boston needed just 2:10 to match her scoring output from the Georgia game, and was responsible for the Gamecocks’ first eight points. She had two assists and a pair of layups, plus three rebounds and a block during that stretch, and made sure from the start there would be no repeat of Monday night.

“We know that we can do that,” Kierra Fletcher said. “One of the things that we’ve harped on is having better starts to our games. That’s something the starters have taken personally.”

South Carolina was relentless on both ends of the court. Auburn did not make consecutive baskets in the entire game. 

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“They can hit you in multiple ways,” Johnnie Harris said. “Reall if they’re all on and they’re hitting there’s not a lot you can do.”

Boston finished just shy of a double-double with 13 points (on 5-7 shooting), nine rebounds, four blocks, and three assists. She led a big night for all of the South Carolina bigs. Kamilla Cardoso had 16 points and five rebounds. Saxton had a season-high 12 points to go with five rebounds.

“We made a concerted effort to get all of our post players the ball. It worked tonight,” Dawn Staley said. “They were able to take their time and score. I thought our guards did a great job of getting them the ball where there wasn’t a crowd in there and they could maneuver against one person quickly.”

In all, South Carolina outscored Auburn 50-22 in the paint, blocked nine shots, and had a 45-25 rebounding advantage. 

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The Gamecocks shot 63.2% from the floor, had 25 assists on 36 made baskets, shot 15-18 from the line and 7-16 from three, with seven different players hitting a three. 

Fletcher had a season-high five assists and Raven Johnson tied her career-high with seven assists. They had just one turnover between them. Of the 12 Gamecocks who played, everyone but Saxton and Cardoso had an assist. 

“That’s what we’ve been working on,” Staley said. “Trying to convert, trying to make the right pass. The ball should find who should shoot it, and we did a good job tonight.”

BOX SCORE

Notes:

Freshmen Ashlyn Watkins and Talaysia Cooper did not play. Staley called it a coach’s decision. … Saxton left the game after suffering a cut on her nose. … Auburn did not have Honesty Scott-Grayson, who is day-to-day. … Aliyah Boston braids report: Boston continued to sport her red and green braids. … Dawn Staley fit report: Staley wore a black t-shirt with a picture of her former teammate Sheryl Swoopes. … Announced attendance was 11,552. … South Carolina’s next game is Sunday at Mississippi State.

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