South Carolina Breaks Records at Ole Miss

Box Score

OXFORD, Miss. (AP) – Despite an overwhelming defensive performance that held Mississippi scoreless in the first quarter and limited Ole Miss to two points in the first half, South Carolina coach Dawn Staley saw room for improvement.
 
”I don’t think we played as well as we could, and that’s not taking away from the good things we did,” Staley said after the No. 1 Gamecocks beat Ole Miss 87-32 on Thursday night. ”Ole Miss just missed shots. But we’ve got to make better decisions offensively and do the little things, the routine things better.”
 
Leticia Amihere scored 16 points as South Carolina (20-1, 8-0 Southeastern Conference) led Ole Miss (7-14, 0-8) 33-2 at the half.
 
Mikiah Herbert Harrigan scored eight points, blocked two shots and added a steal in the early decisive surge as the Lady Rebels missed 19 consecutive shots and had 16 turnovers.
 
Tyasha Harris and Herbert Harrigan finished with 10 points apiece for South Carolina, which led by as many as 57 points, 87-30, on a 3-point shot by Olivia Thompson with 1:17 remaining.
 
Ole Miss ended its first-half scoring drought on Mimi Reid’s layup with 57 seconds left in the second quarter. Reid led the Rebels with 12 points.
 
Ole Miss finished 13 of 50 (26%) from the field and 0 of 10 from the 3-point line.
 
”I”m still in shock. I thought about picking up my phone and calling the facilities leadership because something had to be on top of our basket,” Mississippi coach Yolett McPhee-McCuin said. ”The ball was in and out, short, long. But hats off to South Carolina. That’s why they’re No. 1.”
 
The last time a Division 1 team scored as few as two points in a half was Dec. 16, 2016, when Western Kentucky defeated Lipscomb 87-35 after leading 56-2 at halftime.
 
South Carolina was 33 of 62 (53%) from the field, 8 of 19 (42%) from 3-point range and 13 of 17 (76%) from the free throw line. The Gamecocks outrebounded the Rebels 45-22, including a game-high eight rebounds by Aliyah Boston.
 
”We take pride in our defense and we played well on that end early,” Amihere said. ”But we’ve got to a better job communicating than what we did in the second half. There’s always room for improvement.”
 
 
BIG PICTURE
South Carolina: The Gamecocks were not caught looking ahead showcasing a dominating performance. The schedule moves into overdrive as the next three games feature ranked teams: No. 22 Tennessee at home, a visit to No. 25 Arkansas and a non-conference home match with No. 4 Connecticut.
”It;s big,” Staley said. ”it’s a big schedule in a week.”
 
Ole Miss: The Rebels weren’t bad defensively in the first half, forcing eight turnovers and limiting South Carolina to 13 of 30 (29%) from the field. No defense could compensate for the offensive performance, which set season lows in every statistical category.
 
”We’re shooting bullets, but we’re coming out with blanks,” McPhee-McCuin said. ”But we’re going to come back tomorrow morning, work hard, try to turn the tide and continue to build.”
 
 
GAMECHANGER
Carolina’s defense once again proved to be too much for an opponent to handle as the Rebels didn’t get on the scoreboard until the 57 second mark of the second quarter.
 

KEY STAT
The Gamecocks held Ole Miss to 1-of-20 from the field in the first half, and 0-of-9 shooting in the opening quarter.
 

NOTABLES

• Carolina held Ole Miss scoreless in the first quarter, the first opening quarter shutout in program history. It was the 10th time this season the Gamecocks have held an opponent to single digits in the first quarter, and fifth time in SEC play.
• The two points scored by the Rebels in the first half were the lowest total given up by a Carolina squad, besting the previous record of seven points from Bethune-Cookman on Dec. 21, 2005. It also tied the NCAA Div. I record for fewest points allowed in a half.
• Laeticia Amihere finished with a game- and career-best 16 points. The freshman also tied her career high with three blocks.
• Mikiah Herbert Harrigan came out on fire, scoring eight of her 10 points in the first quarter.
• Tyasha Harris tallied 10 points on the night, continuing her streak of scoring in double figures in every SEC game this season.
• The Gamecocks are 20-1, their best start since the 2015-16 squad opened the year 22-0.

 
UP NEXT

The Gamecocks (20-1, 8-0 SEC) return to Columbia for a three-game home stand and get things started against #22/22 Tennessee. Things get underway in Colonial Life Arena at 1 p.m. ET with the game airing on ESPN2.

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