Feb. 18, 2007
Nashville, Tenn. – The South Carolina women’s basketball team dropped an 83-65 decision Sunday at No. 12 Vanderbilt after Commodore guard Caroline Williams hit six three-pointers at Memorial Gym. With the loss, the Gamecocks fall to 15-13 overall and 5-8 in Southeastern Conference play while the Commodores improve to 23-4 and 9-4 in SEC play.
Williams had a career day for Vanderbilt, scoring 26 points on 8-of-10 shooting (80 percent) after hitting 6-of-8 shots from beyond the arc. Melanie Johnson led the Gamecocks with 14 points and nine rebounds. Stacy Booker and Shannel Harris each added nine points for Carolina in the final road game of the regular season.
Vanderbilt, No. 2 nationally in field-goal percentage (50.3) and No. 1 in three-point percentage (43.0), continued to shoot well Sunday, hitting 61 percent of their shots from the field and shooting 53 percent from beyond the arc (8-of-15). The Commodores also hit 19-of-20 free throws in the game. South Carolina was 23-of-66 (35 percent) from the field and outrebounded the Commodores 35-30 with most of the rebounds (24) coming from offensive boards.
Vanderbilt, riding a six-game winning streak, got off to a hot start with a 13-2 run to begin the game. South Carolina struggled with its shots in the early drought, going 1-for-9 (11 percent) with four turnovers while the Commodores hit 5-of-7 (71 percent) shots in the opening run. The Gamecocks never closed within nine points for the rest of the game as Vanderbilt stayed hot from the field, led by Williams who scored 19 points in the opening half on 7-of-8 shooting including a 5-of-6 effort from three-point range.
The lead swelled to as many as 30 points early in the second half before Carolina rallied with 8-2 and 10-2 runs to cut the deficit to 76-55 with 5:29 remaining. However the Gamecocks emergence began with too little time left on the clock as Vanderbilt claimed the 83-65 victory.
The Gamecocks entered the game No. 11 in the nation in steals per game (12.11) and matched that number while forcing 21 Vanderbilt turnovers.
The Gamecocks are idle this Thursday and return to action next Sunday at 3 p.m. against Mississippi State. The game will be the final regular season game for both teams as the Gamecocks will celebrate Senior Day at the Colonial Center.
