Jan. 3, 2008
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COLUMBIA – South Carolina saw 10 of 12 players find the scoring column in a well-balanced 80-52 victory over UNC Asheville tonight at the Colonial Center. The Gamecocks (10-4) used a 26-4 run over a six-minute stretch of the first half to shed a pesky Bulldog team. South Carolina shot 48.6 percent from the field, including 40 percent from 3-point range, while holding UNCA to just 25 percent shooting and 17 points below its season average.
Senior Ebony Jones got the offense started early for South Carolina with back-to-back 3-pointers. Asheville narrowed the gap to four points at 9-5 on a driving lay-up from Chioma Okoli at the 14:29 mark. After a short 6-1 burst keyed by consecutive put-backs from Demetress Adams to push the lead to 15-6, UNCA’s Stacy Shepard drained a short jumper to get the deficit back to seven. From there, the Gamecocks scored 12 straight points to start the decisive 26-4 run.
While the defense held the Bulldogs, the Gamecocks took care of the glass, allowing just one offensive rebound during the six-minute drive. The surge opened with an Ilona Burgrova lay-up and built on back-to-back mid-range jumpers from Brionna Dickerson. Samone Kennedy shredded the defense and hit a driving lay-up, and Jordan Jones drained a long jumper just a step inside the 3-point line. Burgrova capped the string of 12 unanswered points with a long jumpshot at the top of the arc for a 27-8 Gamecock lead.
Asheville’s Ana Baker ended the string with a pair of free throws with 9:00 left in the half, but the Gamecocks went right back to work. Kennedy netted a mid-range jumper, Ebony Jones scored in transition, and C.J. Pace buried a 3-pointer from the right side. The Bulldogs cut it to 34-12 on a mid-range jump shot from Kiana Rainey, but it was a brief interruption to Pace’s personal eight-point surge as she hit a jumper from the right side then converted a traditional three-point play with a put-back and a free throw. Freshman Jewel May closed the rally with a tough lay-up in transition for a 41-12 Gamecock lead with 6:13 on the clock.
The Bulldogs turned up the defensive pressure down the stretch of the half, forcing three turnovers and cleaning up their defensive glass. The effort narrowed their deficit to 20 points before the break, but it was not enough to fight back against the diversified offense of the Gamecocks.
South Carolina scored 80 points despite neither of its top two scorers reaching double figures. Dickerson led all scorers with 18 points, while Pace turned in a career-best 15. Both Adams and Burgrova narrowly missed double-doubles. Adams snagged a game-high 12 rebounds to go with eight points, five assists and five blocked shots, while Burgrova snatched 10 rebounds and netted nine points.
Okoli led UNC Asheville with 11 points, while Jessical Monroe added 10. Shepard paced the Bulldogs on the glass with 11 rebounds.
The Gamecocks close out their non-conference schedule on Sun., Jan. 8, against Savannah State. Tipoff at the Colonial Center is slated for 3 p.m.
