Jan. 2, 2006
CLEMSON, S.C. – The South Carolina women’s basketball team rolled over Clemson, 77-46, to capture its seventh straight win on Monday night at Littlejohn Coliseum. The Gamecocks improved to 9-3 on the year heading into Wednesday’s game against No. 1 Tennessee in Columbia. Clemson fell to 6-8 with the loss.
South Carolina’s defense was dominant, holding the Tigers to just 30 percent shooting. It marked the fifth straight game USC has limited its opponent to 30 percent or less from the field. The Gamecocks knocked down 53.7 percent of their own shots as Iva Sliskovic led the Gamecocks with 15 points on 6-of-8 shooting and grabbed 10 rebounds. The Gamecocks’ bench out-scored the Tiger reserves, 53-7, led by Larissa Kulcsar’s season-best 14 points, 12 points from Stacy Booker and a career-high 11 points from Lakesha Tolliver.
USC was impressive from the free throw line, nailing 16-of-17 attempts (.941), the fourth-best effort in school history and the best since making 16-of-17 against Vanderbilt on March 2, 2000. The Gamecocks also won the battle of the boards, out-rebounding Clemson, 45-27. Carolina out-scored the Tigers in the paint, 46-20.
South Carolina set the tone out of the gate. The Gamecocks opened the game on a 12-0 scoring spurt, a run that included six points from Sliskovic. Clemson scored its first basket of the game at the 13:45 mark when Tasha Taylor knocked down a 12-foot jumper.
South Carolina maintained the lead throughout the half, pounding the ball inside and doing the majority of its damage with high percentage shots in the lane. USC shot 46.2 percent (12-of-26) from the field while holding the Tigers to 26.5 percent (9-of-34). The Gamecocks headed into intermission with a 13-point advantage, matching their largest lead of the first half at 33-20. Sliskovic led eight South Carolina players with eight points and added five rebounds.
In the second half, Carolina extended its lead to 19 points, 50-31, on a fastbreak lay-up by Booker with 11:37 to play. From there, the Gamecocks went on a 13-4 run to take a 30-point lead with 6:26 to play and essentially put the Tigers away.
Carolina held Clemson’s top two scorers, Julie Talley and Maxienne White, who average nearly 20 points combined, to a mere five points tonight. The Tigers were 0-of-11 from three-point range, the first time this season they failed to convert a three-point basket. Amanda Frist led the Tigers with 15 points.
Melanie Johnson had a season-high five assists and Lauren Simms pocketed a season-best three steals for Carolina. USC snapped Clemson’s two-game win streak in the series.
The Gamecocks return to the hardwood on Wednesday, Jan. 4, when they open SEC play against the Lady Vols at the Colonial Center. Tip off is set for 7 p.m. and the game will be televised live on CSS.
