Jan. 25, 2004

Final Stats?|? Quotes?|? Notes

Columbia, S.C. – The University of Kentucky women’s basketball team defeated USC 75-61 on Sunday afternoon at the Colonial Center. The loss dropped South Carolina to 8-9 overall and 0-5 in the SEC while the Wildcats improved to 9-9 overall and 1-4 in conference play.

The game was a story of two halves for the Gamecocks. In the first half, USC shot 51.9% from the field and 63.6% from beyond the arch to take a 38-29 lead into halftime. USC led the entire first half and had a lead as high as 11 points with about 35 seconds remaining in the first half.

The second half opened up with Kentucky going on a 18-2 run that was led by two three pointers by Angela Phillips that helped cut USC’s lead down to one with 18 minutes remaining. Kentucky would take their first lead of the game after a Sara Potts three pointer that gave them a 42-40 lead with 17:30 remaining in the game. The Wildcats would hold on to the lead as USC could never get the lead to under seven points with less than five minutes to go in the game.

The biggest story of the second half was Potts scoring all of her 16 points in the final stanza and the Wildcats holding the Gamecocks to 24.3% shooting from the field in the second half. Potts also got help from four other Wildcat players who scored in double digits.

The Gamecocks were led by freshman guard Lauren Simms who had 18 points and Olga Gritsaeva had 15. Kelly Morrone hit 14 while Cristina Ciocan had seven. Stacy Booker hit three while Larissaa Kulcsar and Iva Sliskovic netted two.

“We struggled at the beginning of the second half,” stated USC Head Coach Susan Walvius. “You win games in the first five minutes of that half. I believe in this team and we just need to work harder on defense. We got great talent on this team and there are solutions and time to fix our problems.”

USC returns to action on January 28th when they travel to face the College of Charleston at 7:00 p.m.