Women's Basketball . November 28, 2024

Gamecocks Use 32-0 Run to Calm Cyclones

Game #1

FORT MYERS, Fla. (AP) — No. 4 South Carolina went on a 32-0 run in the first half and beat No. 15 Iowa State 76-36 in the Fort Myers Tip-Off on Thursday.

The Gamecocks — playing for the first time since now-No. 1 UCLA snapped their 43-game winning streak on Sunday — held the Cyclones scoreless for nearly 15 straight minutes. Joyce Edwards had 13 points and 11 rebounds for South Carolina (6-1), and Sania Feagin scored 13.

Audi Crooks had 13 points and nine rebounds for Iowa State (5-2), and Mackenzie Hare scored 12 for the Cyclones.

South Carolina missed 13 consecutive shots after the 32-0 run ended and saw its lead cut to 37-20. But the Gamecocks made seven of their next eight shots and pulled away.

Takeaways
Iowa State: The last time the Cyclones didn’t score more than 36 points was Jan. 14, 2012, a 59-33 loss to Texas A&M. The last time an AP top-15 team scored so few in a game was Jan. 24, 2016, when No. 12 Stanford lost 56-36 to UCLA.

South Carolina: Gamecocks coach Dawn Staley told Fox after the game she was impressed with her team’s resilience following the loss. “This is a sample of what (we) can be,” she said.

Key moment
Emily Ryan set up Crooks for a basket with 6:29 left. It was Ryan’s only assist, and she’s now had at least one in all 126 of her appearances for Iowa State.

Key stat
South Carolina had nine players score in the first half. Iowa State had nine points in the first half.

Gamecock Notables

The Gamecocks’ 40-point victory was the largest winning margin against a ranked opponent in program history, topping last season’s 38-point victory over then-No. 14 Maryland (Nov. 12, 2023).
South Carolina’s defense was the star of the show, holding No. 15 Iowa State to just three points in the opening quarter and scoring 13 points off eight Cyclone turnovers in the opening 10 minutes.
Iowa State’s 36 points were the fewest South Carolina has allowed a ranked opponent since holding then-No. 22 Georgia to 35 on Feb. 5, 2015.
The Gamecock offense was just as strong, throwing down a 32-0 run throughout the first half.
Freshman Joyce Edwards posted a new career-high 14 points to lead the team, along with securing the first double-double of her career after grabbing 11 boards and a team-high three steals.
Sania Feagin finished in double digits for the second time this season, scoring a team-high 13 points with seven coming in the final quarter as part of a 12-5 run by the Gamecocks to end the game.
Chloe Kitts had a strong opening quarter, scoring all six of her points in just as many minutes on the court.
Raven Johnson knocked down a season-high two triples, including one to open up the fourth quarter.