Gamecocks Down Temple 78-71
PHILADELPHIA, Pa. – South Carolina senior Tyasha Harris scored a season-high 21 points, including 12 in the fourth quarter the Gamecocks pushed of Temple, 78-71, Saturday afternoon at McGonigle Hall. Senior Mikiah Herbert Harrigan added 15 points, including nine in the final period to secure the road win.
Harris made her impact felt all over the court today, dishing out seven assists, tallying four steals and snagging three rebounds on top of her team-high 21 points and seven assists. Harbert Harrigan was a force on the glass, pulling down seven rebounds and blocking a shot in addition to her 15 points. Sophomore Destanni Henderson poured in 12 points and finished with five steals, a new career high. Freshman Aliyah Boston narrowly missed her fifth double-double of the season, finishing with 10 points, eight rebounds, three blocks, two assists and two steals. Freshman Brea Beal provided a spark off the bench with 10 points and seven rebounds.
Three-point shooting got the Gamecock offense going as the Owls bottled things up on the inside. Harris seemed to sort out the early back-and-forth with five points in a 7-2 run that closed the opening quarter with the Gamecocks up 22-15. Temple closed the half on a 7-2 run of its own to trail but just four heading into the break.
After a pair of Marissa Mackins 3s made it a two-point Temple advantage early in the third, redshirt-freshman Laeticia Amihere slowed the Temple momentum, forcing her way to the hoop and earning trips to the charity stripe where she sank three free throws to give Carolina a 40-39 lead. Harris and Beal scored on back-to-back possessions to extend the lead, 44-39, before a Temple three made it a one-possession game again at 44-42. Carolina couldn’t put the Owls away in the third with both teams scoring 16 points and Carolina taking a 53-49 advantage to the fourth.
Harris opened the fourth with a jumper, the first of her 10 points that quarter. A Temple three made it 55-52 with 8:28 to play, but that is was close as the Owls would get. Herbert Harrigan drove the lane for a layup, Boston snagged a rebound and deposited the ball in the hoop, then Harris added a pair of free throws to push the lead to nine, 61-52 with 5:42 on the clock. After a Temple bucket, Herbert Harrigan drained a jumper to get Carolina back on track before Harris sank another pair of free throws and Henderson added a layup to make it a 13-point game, 67-54. Temple found some offensive footing in the final moments, but it was too little, too late as the Gamecocks closed out the 78-71 win.
GAMECHANGER
Harris and Herbert Harrigan both caught fire in the fourth quarter, with Harris scoring 12 of her 21 points, and Herbert Harrigan tallying nine of her 15 points as the Gamecocks needed a boost to put the game out of reach.
KEY STAT
The Gamecocks made the most out of their trips to the charity stripe, going 16-of-19 for 84.2 percent, including a perfect 6-of-6 in the fourth quarter.
NOTABLES
- Carolina tied its season high with eight made threes today.
- Harris finished with 21 points, a new season high, for her second straight 20-point game after notching 20 against No. 2/2 Baylor last week.
- Boston’s 10 points mean the freshman has now scored in double-figures in all 10 games she’s played as a Gamecock.
- Herbert Harrigan extended her streak of double-digit scoring games to eight with her 15 points.
- Sophomore Destanni Henderson picked up her career-high four steals in just the second quarter, finishing with five, becoming the first Gamecock to hit the five-steal mark since Bianca Cuevas-Moore picked up five at Purdue on Dec. 16, 2018.
UP NEXT
The Gamecocks (9-1) play their first game at Colonial Life Arena in nearly a month when they host Purdue. Tipoff is set for 2 p.m. on Sun., Dec. 2.
