Nov. 6, 2015
COLUMBIA, S.C. — No. 2/2 South Carolina used a 13-0 run in the second quarter to pull way from a hot-shooting Newberry team that stayed within striking distance through the first 12 minutes of play to post a 93-49 exhibition win Friday night at Colonial Life Arena. The Wolves hit timely 3-pointers throughout the first quarter before the Gamecocks locked down on defense to turn a 26-22 lead into a 39-22 advantage with under 3:00 left in the half.
With just eight Gamecocks dressed for the game, South Carolina took some time to find its rhythm on both sides of the ball after an initial flurry of steals and layups from senior guard Khadijah Sessions opened play. Junior Alaina Coates and senior Tiffany Mitchell kept the offense going early, but Newberry’s Emily Perry netted 11 of the Wolves’ 18 first-quarter points. With just a five-point lead going into the second quarter, the Gamecocks turned it around on the defensive end with Coates and frontcourt-mates Sarah Imovbioh and Jatarie White locking down the interior.
After Perry’s layup off a steal made it a 26-22 Gamecock lead with 8:11 on the clock, Imovbioh turned an offensive rebound into a basket then grabbed a defensive rebound on the other end to launch the decisive 13-0 run that spanned over five minutes and changed the complexion of the game. During the stretch, Coates hit a pair of buckets around a Tina Roy 3-pointer, and White closed out the surge with back-to-back scores. Newberry finally ended the drought with a pair of Kirsten Dunsmore free throws, but South Carolina answered with six of the last eight points of the period to carry a 45-26 lead into halftime.
The second half opened with much of the same with the Gamecocks netting the first seven points — four from Coates and a 3-pointer from Mitchell. Perry looked to rally the Wolves with a 3 from the left sideline, but White answered with one from the top of the key to spark a Gamecock 11-0 run.
Coates finished with a game-high 24 points on 10-of-11 shooting and eight boards, while White added 19 points as four Gamecocks scored in doubles figures. Imovbioh led the team with 11 rebounds while Sessions and Roy each led the team with seven assists.
GAMECHANGER
Senior forward Sarah Imovbioh scored off an offensive rebound then cleaned up the defensive glass on the next possession to launch a 13-0 second-quarter run that turned a four-point game (26-22) into a 39-22 outing with 3:23 left in the opening half.
KEY STAT
After hitting just 2-of-7 (.285) to open the game, South Carolina hit 6-of-11 (.545) the rest of the first quarter and finished the first half shooting 53.1 percent (17-of-32) from the field. That percentage skyrocketed in the second half to .625 (20-of-32).
NOTABLE
- Junior center Alaina Coates finished the night with 24 points on 10-of-11 shooting.
- Sophomore forward Jatarie White added 19 points, 13 of which came in the second half.
- Senior guard Tina Roy knocked down five of her 12 3-point attempts on her way to 15 points.
QUOTABLE
South Carolina Head Coach Dawn Staley
On play in the post and interior passing
“I think we need to expound on it. We have a lot of quality post players, and they do a really good job of passing to themselves, probably much better than our guard-to-post entry passes. We’re going to utilize that a little bit more. Obviously we didn’t play a lot of sets. We didn’t show all of the things that we’ve been working on. You’ll see us utilize them a lot more than we have in the past.”
UP NEXT
South Carolina officially opens the 2015-16 season on Fri., Nov. 13, with a top-10 battle against No. 6/10 Ohio State. Tipoff at Colonial Life Arena is set for 7 p.m. with the Gamecocks unveiling their 2014-15 banners prior to the game.
