Feb. 15, 2007
Columbia, S.C. – Stacy Booker hit a season-high 27 points and scored the final nine points of the game in leading the South Carolina women’s basketball team to a 70-61 win over Auburn Thursday night at the Colonial Center.
With the win, the Gamecocks improve to 15-12 overall and 5-7 in Southeastern Conference play while the loss drops Auburn to 17-10 overall and 4-7 in the SEC.
Booker added three steals and four assists to go with her 27 points off the bench, courtesy of a 9-of-14 effort from the field. Iva Sliskovic inched closer to the 1,000-point plateau with 13 points and 10 rebounds, her third double-double of the season. Sliskovic now has 963 career points. Sherell Hobbs led the Tigers with a team-high 16 points and six rebounds.
The Gamecocks stifled Auburn over the final 3:07 of the first half, outscoring the Tigers 11-0 to turn a three-point deficit into a 33-25 halftime lead. Booker hit three of her career-high five three-pointers in the opening stanza as she coasted to 11 points in the first half.
Auburn twice pulled within two points early in the second half before the Gamecocks went on a 15-4 run in a span of four minutes and 48 seconds to increase its lead to double-digits, 57-45, with 9:31 remaining. The Tigers never stayed out of the game, clawing back with small runs before tying the game 61-61 with one minute and 55 seconds remaining in the game.
Booker took over the game afterwards, scoring the final nine points of the game. Her three-pointer to take a 64-61 was her fifth from beyond the arc in the game, tying her career-high. On Carolina’s next possession, Booker found the lane for a lay-up to increase the lead to 66-61. The Tigers then sent her to the free throw line twice in the final 25 seconds as she sank all four attempts for the 70-61 victory.
Demetress Adams matched a Colonial Center record with five blocks in the game, with her final rejection proving to be a pivotal one. With South Carolina leading 64-61 with 1:07 remaining in the game, Adams blocked Whitney Boddie’s jumper at the free-throw line and Carolina’s Melanie Johnson recovered the rebound. The Tigers did not score again for the remainder of the game.
South Carolina returns to action Sunday afternoon at No. 12 Vanderbilt. The game will be the final away game of the regular season for the Gamecocks. The Commodores escaped the Colonial Center with a 67-66 victory earlier this season.
