No. 1 South Carolina runs past Texas A&M 76-34

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Zia Cooke had 14 points and No. 1 South Carolina opened Southeastern Conference play with a 76-34 victory over Texas A&M on Thursday night.

The Gamecocks improved to 13-0 for the third time in the past nine seasons. They beat the Aggies (5-6, 0-1) for the 10th time in the past 11 meetings.

South Carolina, which lost its SEC opener at Missouri a year ago, outscored Texas A&M 24-6 in the opening period. It steadily increased the lead to 46 points in final minutes.

Freshman reserve Talaysia Cooper had 15 points for the Gamecocks, and sophomore backup Sania Feagin scored 11 points.

All-American Aliyah Boston finished with six points and five rebounds, playing just 19 minutes in the runaway win.

The injury-riddled Aggies, who had only eight players available, struggled to establish an offensive rhythm. They finished with 22 turnovers.

Sydney Bowles and Jada Malone each scored eight points for Texas A&M. Both players fouled out.

South Carolina did what it wanted inside, finishing with 38 points in the paint and 29 free-throw attempts, making 16 of them.

Cooke made three 3-pointers. She went 5 for 10 from the field overall.

Notables

• Texas A&M’s 34 points are the fourth-fewest allowed by the Gamecocks in an SEC game since joining the league for the 1992-93 season.
• The Gamecocks controlled the glass throughout the game, out-rebounding the Aggies 53-26 and allowing just seven offensive rebounds, the first of which didn’t come until the second quarter.
• South Carolina’s bench out-scored its starters for the seventh time this season, accounting for 42 of the team’s 76 points.
• Freshman Talaysia Cooper tallied a new career high with 15 points, going on her own 6-0 run in less than a minute to end the first quarter. She went on to put down eight of the team’s 14 in the fourth quarter.
• Zia Cooke tallied her 11th double-digit scoring game this season with 14 points, hitting the first three of the game followed by another just two minutes later in the second quarter. She opened the second half with six of the team’s first 12 points.
• Sania Feagin tallied 11 points, scoring in every quarter, including a layup at the buzzer to help the Gamecocks end the first quarter on a 17-2 run.
• Brea Beal opened scoring for the second half, knocking down two threes as part of a 16-1 run in the third quarter.