Gamecocks Take Down Missouri in Wire-to-Wire Fashion
COLUMBIA, S.C. –No. 19/20 South Carolina women’s basketball led Missouri wire-to-wire in a 79-65 victory at Colonial Life Arena Monday night. The Gamecocks (13-5, 5-1) opened with a 24-point first quarter and never looked back to defeat their second ranked SEC opponent this season.
Four Gamecocks finished in double-figure points, led by 16 each from Tyasha Harris, who also added five assists and five rebounds, and Mikiah Herbert Harrigan, who score seven of hers in the second quarters. Bianca Cuevas-Moore tied her season high with four triples and finished with 14 points. Alexis Jennings muscled her way to 14 points and added seven boards in 35 minutes.
The first quarter turned into the Cuevas-Moore show right out of the gates. The redshirt senior sank one of her three first-quarter threes to begin the game. Missouri hit a three of its own, but Carolina responded with a 10-1 run to claim a 13-3 lead. The Gamecocks used the combination of two defensive plays and transition buckets during the run, capped off by Cuevas-Moore going coast-to-coast to extend the lead to double digits. Later in the quarter the Bronx, N.Y., native gave the Gamecock crowd something to get on its feet. After hitting a three, she made a diving save to secure a steal and sprinted to the corner where she hit a second-straight three to put Carolina up 12 with 1:15 in the quarter. The Gamecocks polished off the quarter with a 24-14 advantage.
Herbert Harrigan got into a groove during the second quarter, hitting 3-of-4 shots during the quarter to secure her sixth-straight game in double figures, the longest streak of any Gamecock this season. Carolina’s lead extended to 16 with a 7-0 run toward the end of the first half. After a Gamecock timeout, Cuevas-Moore found a slashing Destanni Henderson on a perfect alley-oop pass to help secure a 44-30 lead at the break for South Carolina.
Harris dominated the third quarter, scoring 12 of her 16 points during the frame. The quarter started with a Te’a Cooper and-one, and was followed by some stifling defense that forced back-to-back turnovers, including one in the back court. Harris sank two straight threes during the quarter, and scored the final four points for Carolina to build a 64-49 lead heading into the fourth.
Cuevas-Moore got back into the scoring column with a three early in the fourth quarter, a play that jump started a 9-0 run to build the Carolina lead to 75-51, the largest of the game with 5:21 to go.
GAMECHANGER
Led by six points from Herbert Harrigan, the Gamecocks jumped out to a 11-3 lead to begin the game. The Gamecocks never trailed and led by as many as 24 points.
QUOTABLE DAWN STALEY
Staley on handling adversity…
“One of [the was] is just [having a] short memory. This could have been somewhat of a trap game for us, but it wasn’t. They knew they played well [at Mississippi State[. They wanted to get back on the winning side of things. I think it’s all about preparation – our coaching staff, what we decide on that is important to concentrate on – and we did that over the past two days.”
KEY STAT
The Gamecocks forced 16 Missouri turnovers that led to 23 points, nine of those turnovers and 17 points coming in the first half.
NOTABLES
- Herbert Harrigan continued her impressive streak of double-figure games to six, a streak that began when SEC play began against Texas A&M.
- With a 44-30 advantage after 20 minutes, Carolina is now 11-0 this season when leading at halftime.
- The Gamecocks held Missouri to just 65 points, moving their record to 12-0 when holding opponents under 69 points this season.
- Using 14 offensive rebounds, the Gamecocks racked up 18 second-chance points, the most since they scored 20 against Appalachian State (Dec. 5).
- The Gamecocks starting five poured in 67 points in the victory, tying the most points any Gamecock starting five has scored this season (Drake) and marking the second-straight game with at least 60 points.
UP NEXT
The Gamecocks (13-5, 5-1 SEC) remain home to take on Vanderbilt on Mon., Jan. 28, at 7 p.m. on the SEC Network. Carolina then hits the road to take on Kentucky on Mon., Jan. 31, to wrap up the first month of SEC action.
