Jocelyn Penn netted 50 and grabbed 11 boards to lead No. 23/22 South Carolina past Wofford, 99-46, Wednesday night at the Carolina Center. Penn’s point total tied a USC individual record for points in a game. The previous high was 50 by Shannon Johnson set on January 31, 1996 against Appalachian State.
“It’s an honor especially being next to Shannon Johnson,” stated Jocelyn Penn. “I want to credit my teammates; they wanted it just as bad as I did.”
South Carolina, 6-0, had three players to post double-double performances. Along with Penn, Kelly Morrone tallied 10 points and 11 assists while Petra Ujhelyi scored 16 and brought down 15 rebounds. The 11 assists by Morrone and 15 rebounds for Ujhelyi were both new career highs.
“Jocelyn Penn is a big reason for last season and this season’s success,” said USC Head Coach Susan Walvius. “At the three minute mark we decided to push for the record because she’s worked so hard for it. About Petra’s double-double, she is one of the best all around players I’ve coached. She is a good defender, great passer, and scores if Jocelyn is double teamed”
South Carolina opened the game with a 15-1 run before Wofford scored their first field goal of the game at the 15:54 mark. Penn’s 26 points in the first half resulted in a new South Carolina record. Penn also broke the most field goals made in the first half by a Gamecock record with 12 baskets. The team tied the USC first half assists record with 19. The record breaking performance in the first half gave Carolina a comfortable 57-25 lead going into the locker room.
The second half showed more dominance and records falling by the Gamecocks as they outscored Wofford 42-21 to go on to the 99-46 win. The 53 point margin was the largest Gamecock win since Carolina defeated Florida A&M on December 19, 2000 by 53.
“The team responded nicely after yesterday,” said Walvius. “We were careless last night and tonight we had unselfish guards doing a great job distributing the ball. We had better defense and a cleaner offense as we improved the running game.” South Carolina will return to the Carolina Center on December 16th at 5:30 p.m. as they face Middle Tennessee State.
