Nov. 27, 2011

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COLUMBIA, S.C. – South Carolina locked down defensively, especially in the second half, en route to a 52-24 win over Presbyterian in women’s basketball action Sunday afternoon at Colonial Life Arena. The Gamecocks (5-1) allowed a school record-tying low points, including a record 13 in the second half, while the bench sparked an offensive surge in the second half. Freshman guard Tina Roy led the Gamecocks with a career-high 15 points, including 12 in the second half, and junior forward Ashley Bruner logged her first double-double of the season with her 10 points and 11 rebounds.

“Tina can shoot the ball,” South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley. “We want her to be able to stretch defenses out a little bit. We have put her at the point guard position because she’s a big guard, and she can handle the ball pretty well. She puts in extra time with her shot, puts in extra conditioning so it is bringing her along a little slowly so she can be valuable to us throughout the season.”

Defense was the name of the game for the first five minutes as both teams struggled to find the hoop. Senior guard Markeshia Grant would open up the offensive game for the Gamecocks with a big 3-point shot from the left corner, and Carolina would take a 9-6 lead at the first media timeout.

The Gamecocks started to pull away mid-way through the half, as freshman forward Aleigsha Welch converted on a traditional three-point play with 9:48 left on the clock to put the Gamecocks up 14-9.

The Garnet and Black defense shut down the Blue Hose attack in the first half, forcing seven turnovers in the first 12 minutes and limiting them to only 10 shots. The Gamecocks also played clean defense, committing their first foul of the half with 7:22 to play.

South Carolina reached its largest lead of the half on a 3-point bucket from Grant on the right wing with 3:55 left to play, and the Gamecocks took a 22-13 lead into the break.

The offensive struggle continued in the second half with the first bucket coming on Presbyterian’s Dria David layup with 16:52 on the clock. The Gamecocks marked the board soon after on Bruner’s layup, followed by a deep 3-pointer from Roy to go up 27-15 with 14:49 left in the game.

Presbyterian climbed back with two straight buckets to pull within seven, 27-20, with 11:38 left in the game. However, junior guard Sancheon White answered for the Gamecocks as she plucked the ball from a Presbyterian guard and took it down the court for a layup as she was fouled from behind. White would convert the three-point play and put the Gamecocks back on top by 10 with 11:15 left. White’s basket sparked a 13-0 run by Carolina, including multiple baskets from Roy and Welch. Roy capped off the streak for the Gamecocks with a 3-pointer that put Carolina up 40-20, the largest lead of the ball game at that point.

The Gamecocks held Presbyterian to just 25.0 percent shooting, and the Blue Hose’s 24 points matched the Carolina school record for fewest points allowed originally set against Georgia Southern on Feb. 3, 1992. Presbyterian’s 11 second-half points eclipsed the previous Gamecock record of 13 by Savannah State on Dec. 19, 2005.

South Carolina shot 50.0 percent in the second half to finish at 39.6 percent for the game, including 40.0 percent from 3-point range (8-20). Junior Ieasia Walker led the way with six assists, while La’Keisha Sutton added four. Each swiped a pair of steals in the game, as did Roy.

Sunday’s victory closed out a three-game homestand for the Gamecocks, who travel to Xavier for a Wed., Nov. 30, outing then head to NC State on Sun., Dec. 4. South Carolina is back at Colonial Life Arena on Sun., Dec. 11, against Furman.