Boston, Hall lead No. 1 Gamecocks past Alabama 65-52

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) — Aliyah Boston had 16 points and 12 rebounds and Bree Hall scored a career-high 18 to lead No. 1 South Carolina to a 65-52 victory over Alabama on Sunday.

The Gamecocks (21-0, 9-0 Southeastern Conference) got their 27th consecutive win in a game that remained close into the third quarter.

Alabama (16-6, 5-4) pulled to within four points in the third quarter but Hall, Boston and South Carolina’s defense took over. The duo paired up for 11 straight points to give the Gamecocks a 48-35 edge, their biggest of the game at that point.

Boston made of 8 of 10 shots for her 14th double-double of the season and had four blocks and four assists. The reigning national player of the year got plenty of help from Hall, who made half of her 8 3-point attempts. Coming into the game, Hall had made just 1 of 11 3s and averaged 2.6 points.

South Carolina leading scorer Zia Cooke scored six points — 10 below her season average.

Sarah Ashlee Barker scored a season-high 15 points for Alabama, Brittany Davis scored 11 of her 13 in the first half and had eight rebounds, and Aaliyah Nye had eight points but played only 17 minutes before fouling out.

Raven Johnson’s layup and a 3-pointer with 1:45 left gave the Gamecocks a 33-23 lead late in the first half. Alabama then ended a four-minute field goal drought with Davis’ long 3-pointer with 19 seconds to play, cutting the halftime margin to 33-26.

Notables

• The Gamecock defense locked down in the second quarter, allowing Alabama just 3-of-15 shooting for 11 points and out-rebounding the Crimson Tide 15-9 in the period.
• South Carolina put up 26 second-chance points off 20 offensive rebounds, compared to just six for Alabama on 12 offensive boards.
• Bree Hall had a career day coming off the bench to score a team-high 18 points, 13 of which came in the second half, including two threes in the final quarter.
• Aliyah Boston recorded her seventh consecutive double-double on the season with 16 points and 12 rebounds, scoring six of the team’s first 12, and half her total points just in the third quarter.
• Raven Johnson had a solid second quarter, scoring on back-to-back possessions with a layup and three to give South Carolina an 8-2 run over the Tide.