Jan. 30, 2005
Lexington, Ky. – – Kentucky continued its home-court dominance this year in claiming a 66-50 win over South Carolina at Memorial Coliseum Sunday.
With the loss, Carolina dipped to 6-15 on the year and 0-7 in SEC play, while the Wildcats improved to 13-8 overall and 3-4 in the SEC. Kentucky’s record includes a near-perfect 11-1 mark at home.
The Gamecocks were led by a 13-point effort from Iva Sliskovic, who reached double-figures for the second consecutive game after scoring 14 against Tennessee on Thursday. Lauren Simms added 12. Kentucky got scoring from the inside and from the perimeter, as 6-6 freshman center Sarah Elliott scored 16 points and guard Sara Potts added a game-high 17 points. Guard Angela Phillips chipped in with 14 points of her own.
Consistent with much of the season, scoring droughts brought about the Gamecocks’ demise, as Carolina allowed Kentucky to end the first half with a 13-1 run over the last 6:17 of the opening stanza. During one stretch of the second half, the Wildcats held the Gamecocks without a field goal for 5:35 to inflate the UK lead to 21 points and effectively put the game out of reach.
The first half was played frantically but without much scoring, as Kentucky took a 30-17 lead into the locker room, thanks largely to productive play in the post from Elliott. Elliott utilized a variety of post moves to score 10 points in the first 20 minutes. The 17 points scored by Carolina matched the team’s second-lowest scoring output for a half this season.
Including Sunday’s contest, the Gamecocks have now lost 13 consecutive SEC games and 11 consecutive conference road games. South Carolina has not won away from the Colonial Center this season.
Following a week-long break, the Gamecocks return to action at 3 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 6, when they host Auburn at 3 p.m. at the Colonial Center. The game will be broadcast live on WISW 1320-AM radio, with Andy Demetra handling play-by-play and Robin Muller providing analysis. The broadcast can be accessed live worldwide via the internet at www.uscsports.com.
