Nov. 26, 2005
Freeport, Bahamas – The South Carolina women’s basketball team let a 30-24 halftime lead slip away against No. 19 Purdue Saturday as the Boilermakers claimed a 56-48 win over the Gamecocks in the third-place game of the Junkanoo Jam tournament played at St. Georges Gym in Freeport, Bahamas.
The Gamecocks were led in the scoring column by forward Iva Sliskovic, who scored 11 points and blocked four shots. Purdue was paced by guard Katie Gearlds, who scored 18 points, grabbed six rebounds and blocked three shots. Though Gearlds put up the big numbers, no Boilermaker contributed more to her team’s victory than guard Cherelle George, who recorded 10 steals in the game and finished with nine points.
The two teams went back and forth in the first half, with the lead never exceeding four points either way until Carolina opened up a 28-20 advantage after a Sliskovic layup at the 4:42 mark.
The start of the second half wasn’t pretty, as the two teams combined for only four points total for the first four minutes and 24 seconds. That stretch of time went down as an opportunity squandered for the Gamecocks, who turned the ball over five times during that time and did not capitalize on Purdue’s struggles. From that point on, the Boilermakers went on a 31-16 run to capture the lead and go on to the win.
For the second consecutive game, Carolina struggled with turnovers and missed free throws, as the Gamecocks gave the ball away 28 times and missed 11 of their 20 attempts from the charity stripe. In contrast, the Boilers turned the ball over 14 times and converted on 15 of their 21 attempts from the line.
South Carolina returns to action when it hosts Georgia Southern at 7 p.m. Tuesday at the Colonial Center. The game will be broadcast live on 1320-AM with Andy Demetra handling play-by-play and Robin Muller providing analysis.
