Dec. 18, 2003
Columbia, S.C. – The University of South Carolina women’s basketball team improved to 8-1 on the season and won their eighth straight game by defeating Louisiana-Lafayette 72-59 on Thursday night at the Colonial Center in front of 1,942 fans. The loss dropped Lafayette to 3-5 on the season.
In the first half, Lafayette held an early 18-14 lead but the Gamecocks would finally get a run together and end the half on an 18-4 run to take a 32-22 lead into halftime. Kelly Morrone sparked the run by hitting three of her four three pointers during that seven and a half minute stretch to put the Gamecocks up for good. The Cajuns cut the lead to nine points twice during the final two minutes of the game but could not get any closer.
The Gamecocks were led by senior Kelly Morrone who had 15 points. All of Morrone’s points came on three pointers and 12 of the 15 came in the first half. Cristina Ciocan and Larissa Kulcsar both tallied 13 for USC. Olga Gritsaeva scored nine with four of them coming in the final minute of the game. Iva Sliskovic scored eight while Lauren Simms and Sarah Burgess totaled seven points.
South Carolina returns to action on December 20th when they face the North Carolina Tar Heels in Myrtle Beach at the ACC-SEC Beach Ball Classic. Tip-off is set for 3 pm.
