South Carolina women's basketball: Huge third quarter sparks rout

After a close first half, short-handed South Carolina dominated the third quarter to blow open the game and beat Penn State 95-55.

South Carolina led 46-34 at halftime, but had struggled to gain any distance from Penn State. The Lady Lions were dominating the glass and the paint, and their 2-3 zone had the Gamecocks flustered.

With its offense struggling against the zone, South Carolina simply avoided the halfcourt. South Carolina scored nine straight points to open the third quarter, all in transition. 

“Obviously, it was the first three possessions,” Carolyn Kieger said. “Turn it over, take long twos, we call them shot turnovers. All of a sudden, it was 9-0 in the third quarter, and obviously, you can’t start that way.”

After Penn State’s Gracie Merkle ended the run, South Carolina scored 10 straight, with eight points in transition. In total, South Carolina outscored Penn State 29-9 in the third quarter, with 19 points in transition, including 15 points off of eight Lady Lion turnovers.

“It was probably a product of our defense and rebounding,” Staley said. “We gave up 22 offensive rebounds so a lot of times they were getting their own rebound and making us play a little bit longer. We got rebounds, and we pushed, and we saw people up the floor.”

Joyce Edwards set new career-highs with 29 points and six steals. She also had five assists, four blocks, and four rebounds. 6-3 Edwards also frequently guarded 6-6 Merkle, using her quickness to deny passes.

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“She’s playing really lose and finding a way to impact the game through an entire stat line,” Dawn Staley said. “Do we want the rebounding to be a little bit better? Yes, we do. But the other stuff, the five assists and no turnovers, the six steals and four blocks, that is who she is. We are working with her to be more than a scorer, because she is one that can pretty much fill a stat sheet.”

Ta’Niya Latson scored 18 points, all but five in the second half. In addition to six rebounds, she had eight assists and four steals, both season highs. Her ability to penetrate the zone off the dribble was the key for South Carolina in the second half. 

“Ta’Niya does best when she gets off to a good start. I thought she got off to a good start because she had a lot of assists,” Staley said. “We try to manufacture some touches to where she’s in a comfort zone. Sometimes she makes them, sometimes she doesn’t, but I don’t want her to get rattled.”

Raven and Tessa Johnson each scored 15 points. Raven added seven rebounds, four assists, and three steals. Tessa added six rebounds. 

Already with just 10 available players for the season, South Carolina was down to eight active players on Sunday. Starter Madina Okot, who is averaging a double-double, and key reserve Agot Makeer were in uniform and warmed up with the team. 

However, about 30 minutes before tipoff, South Carolina announced that Okot and Makeer would not play, and they watched the game from the bench in sweats alongside Chloe Kitts, who is out for the season. After the game, Staley said that both Okot and Makeer are “day-to-day.”

With Okot out, Adhel Tac got her second straight start. Tac had two points and three rebounds in 15 minutes. Maryam Dauda came off the bench to play a season-high 24 minutes. She had three points and three rebounds.

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Kiyomi McMiller led Penn State with 22 points, but was just 9-27 shooting with eight turnovers.

Markle entered the game averaging 22.3 points on a nation’s best 74.6% shooting. South Carolina held her to nine points and nine rebounds in 24 minutes before fouling out. Merkle shot 4-6 from the floor, slightly below her average, but South Carolina was able to front Merkle and deny entry passes.

“They did a great job three-quarter. We couldn’t get any passes inside,” Kieger said. “We’ve got to be able to generate some things off play breakdowns instead of just always be sets.”

Notes:

Philadelphia native Shayla Smith scored a career-high 13 points, all in the first half. She broke some of Dawn Staley’s Philly scoring records. … Penn State outrebounded South Carolina 51-43, but was just plus-two in the second half. Penn State had 21 second-chance points on 22 offensive rebounds. … South Carolina shot 50.7% and held Penn State to 31.5%. Penn State committed 26 turnovers, with 17 coming on steals. South Carolina got 33 points off turnovers. Penn State got just five points off of five Gamecock turnovers. … South Carolina will play a return game at Penn State in 2027. … Dawn Staley’s outfit: Staley wore a white sweater with garnet trim over a Balenciaga shirt. … Announced attendance was 15,601. … South Carolina’s next game is on Thursday at South Florida.

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