South Carolina women's basketball: Gamecocks fight through fatigue to beat Cal Poly
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After a sloppy first half, South Carolina refocused at halftime and blew out Cal Poly 79-36.
South Carolina was playing its fourth road game in a row, and third in six days, a stretch that included a cross-country flight. The strain was evident early.
The Gamecocks jumped out to a 14-0 lead, but careless mistakes let the Mustangs creep back into the game. The Gamecocks were called for four charges in the first quarter, part of seven turnovers. Point guards Kierra Fletcher and Raven Johnson each picked up two fouls and had to sit in the second quarter.
Dawn Staley found a spark against Stanford by going to Zia Cooke at point instead of Fletcher or Johnson, but Tuesday night it had a negative impact. South Carolina gave up 15 points, allowing Cal Poly to shoot 5-15 (which may not sound like much, but the Mustangs were 7-45 the rest of the game). On the other end, South Carolina shot just 47%, the only quarter it made less than half its shots. The result was a lackluster 33-17 halftime lead.
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“We looked sluggish. We looked like we were in quicksand. A lot of that is just mental fatigue and physical fatigue, but we’ve got to strengthen the mental part of it,” Staley said. “You’ve got to win on a Friday and Sunday for a national championship. You’ve got to win Friday-Saturday-Sunday if you want to win an SEC tournament championship.”
The second half was much more what Staley wanted. Jazzy Anousinh made an early three-pointer, but then South Carolina did not allow another field goal the rest of the quarter. With Fletcher and Johnson back running the offense, South Carolina got the ball to Cooke and Aliyah Boston where they could score and eliminated the turnovers.
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The Gamecocks held the Mustangs without a field goal for nearly 14 minutes. During that time they turned a 35-20 lead into a 72-22 lead, a 37-2 run. The Gamecocks made their first ten shot attempts of the fourth quarter, while the Mustangs were missing 16 straight, more than matching Cal Poly’s intensity.
“We knew that we out-talent them, but we weren’t going to outwork them,” Staley said. “They worked extremely hard, they pressured us, they got under our skin, and they never stopped.”
Five South Carolina players scored in double figures, led by Laeticia Amihere’s 13. Boston (12 points and 10 rebounds) and Ashlyn Watkins (10 points and 11 rebounds) each had a double-double. Cooke added 11 points and Victaria Saxton had 10.
Fletcher had her most productive game of the season. She scored eight points on 4-5 shooting and had five rebounds with only one turnover.
“It’s getting better,” Staley said. “It’s not where it’s going to be but it’s not where it was a week ago. The more time that we’re able to practice and she can get some game experience should help her out and help us out.”
Annika Shah led Cal Poly with eight points.
Notes:
Kamilla Cardoso and Sania Feagin were the only Gamecocks that did not play. Staley said, “It was a coach’s decision. I decided to shorten our substitution pattern and went with someone else.” … Boston had her fourth double-double in five games. … Cal Poly started the game 1-23. … Brea Beal had career-highs of four blocks and five assists. … Cal Poly’s Taylor Wu entered the game with no assists and 11 turnovers. She had one assist and one turnover (and went 0-8 shooting) Tuesday. … Aliyah Boston braids report: purple braids with electric blue highlights. Dawn Staley fit report: Staley wore a black hoodie with the word “love” wrapped around the waist. … Announced attendance was 2,384. … South Carolina returns home to face Hampton on Sunday.
