Boston leads No. 1 South Carolina to 88-60 win over Buffalo

PARADISE ISLAND, Bahamas (AP) – Aliyah Boston scored 19 of her 23 points in the first half and top-ranked South Carolina beat Buffalo 88-60 on Saturday night in the opening round of the inaugural Battle 4 Atlantis tournament.

Kamilla Cardoso, who transferred from Syracuse in April, had her best game of the young season for the Gamecocks, adding 12 points, 10 rebounds and six assists. The 6-foot-7 ACC freshman of the year last season complemented Boston well.

Dyaisha Fair led Buffalo (1-1) with 22 points.

The Gamecocks (4-0) led by three after one quarter before extending the advantage to 45-33 at the half. Boston had 11 points in the second.

South Carolina used its size to pull away in the third quarter, and outrebounded the Bulls 49-26.

The Gamecocks shot a sizzling 65% from the field in the second half and 58% for the game.

BIG PICTURE

Buffalo: This tournament will give the Bulls much needed experience against Power Five schools. Buffalo was the only mid-major program invited to the Battle 4 Atlantis. The Bulls played South Carolina two other times in school history, the last one coming in the Sweet 16 in 2018 – a Gamecocks win.

South Carolina: The Gamecocks didn’t get much out of second-leading scorer Zia Cooke, who came into the game averaging 13.3 points. She finished with four.

LIFT AS YOU CLIMB

South Carolina coach Dawn Staley feels that her Buffalo counterpart Felisha Legette-Jack deserves another chance at a Power Five school if she wants it. Staley has been advocating for more coaching opportunities for Black women. Legette-Jack coached at Indiana before being let go and taking over at Buffalo, where she’s guided the team to its first-ever Sweet 16 in 2018 before losing to the Gamecocks.

KEY STAT
South Carolina dominated in the paint, out-scoring Buffalo 48-22 inside, leading to a season-high 57.6 percent shooting.
 
NOTABLES

• Junior Aliyah Boston had her season high points two minutes into the second quarter and finished with 19 first-half points. Her 23 points in the game were a season-high by any Gamecock and just five shy of her career-high 28.
• Sophomore Kamilla Cardoso posted the team’s first double-double of the season and flirted with a triple-double as she finished with 12 points, 10 rebounds and six assists in just 16 minutes on the court.
• Freshman Saniya Rivers saw her first career action, coming off the bench late in the first quarter after missing the last two games due to illness. In 16 minutes on the court, she showed off her athleticism with 3-of-4 shooting and a pair of blocked shots.
• Senior Destanni Henderson continued to provide balance in distribution and scoring, especially from 3-point range. Her 14 points included 4-of-6 shooting from outside the arc and came alongside a season-high eight assists.

 
UP NEXT
The Gamecocks will square off with No. 9/9 Oregon in the next round of games at the Bad Boy Mowers Women’s Battle 4 Atlantis on Sun., Nov. 21. Tipoff on FloHoops is set for 2:30 p.m. ET. It will be the Gamecocks’ second top-10 opponent in five games this season.