Feb. 10, 2008
 |
COLUMBIA – Senior Ebony Jones matched her career high of 12 points, nine of which came in the second half, to lead South Carolina past Mississippi 71-62 at the Colonial Center this afternoon. The Gamecocks (13-11, 2-7 SEC) struggled shooting in the first half, but turned it on to hit 43.3 percent in the second half en route to out-scoring the Lady Rebels (9-13, 3-6 SEC) 44-35 after the break.
The first half was nip-and-tuck as both teams surged ahead by at least five points but could not wrest control of the game. The Lady Rebels benefited from 40 percent shooting and 12 points from Shawn Goff, while the Gamecocks got offense from a variety of sources. Freshman Jasmine Payne was the catalyst for a late push to pull South Carolina even at 27-27 going into halftime. With the Gamecocks trailing by five with four minutes to play, Payne grabbed on offensive rebound off a missed free throw and hit a short jumper to narrow the gap to 23-25. A minute later, she tied the score with a pair of free throws. Ole Miss’ Elizabeth Robertson put the Lady Rebels back on top with a put back before Payne raced down the left side on a fast break and hit the layup to knot the game at 27-27 at the half.
The Lady Rebels controlled but could not shake the Gamecocks early in the second period, taking three-point leads four different times. The last came on a long Carla Bartee jump shot at the right elbow at 9:57. Freshman Jewel May hit a layup on the secondary break to cut the margin to 47-48, and Jones put back an offensive rebound to give the Gamecocks at 49-48 lead at the 7:28 mark.
Back-to-back turnovers by Ole Miss left the door open for a bigger South Carolina lead, and Brionna Dickerson pushed it to 51-48 on a runner on the right baseline. Shantell Black’s 3-pointer at the top of the arc just 20 second later erased the lead, however. Black hit a pair of free throws to put the Lady Rebels back on top 53-51 with 4:55 left in the game.
Jones spotted up for a three at the left baseline to spark an 8-0 run. After Ilona Burgrova drew a charge, Jones added another triple from the left wing, and Burgrova nailed a hook for a 61-55 margin with 3:08 left to play. From there, the game came down to free throw shooting, which the Gamecocks executed with precision, hitting 10-of-12 from the charity stripe in the final 2:25.
Four Gamecocks ended the game in double figures with Dickerson leading the way at 14 points. Jordan Jones matched Ebony Jones’ 12 points, and Lakesha Tolliver added 10, including 8-of-9 from the free throw line. Burgrova snagged a game-high 10 rebounds and just missed a double-double with eight points.
For the Lady Rebels, Goff scored a game-high 16 points, managing just four in the second half, while Bartee finished with 15 points and nine rebounds. Black rounded out the double-digit scorers with 12.
South Carolina has a week off between games, heading to Auburn on Sun., Feb. 17, for a 3 p.m. tipoff.
