Hall makes go-ahead 3 as No. 1 South Carolina rallies past No. 9 LSU
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Bree Hall made a go-ahead 3-pointer with 1:14 remaining, and No. 1 South Carolina rallied from an 11-point deficit to beat ninth-ranked and defending national champion LSU 76-70 on Thursday night.
Chloe Kitts scored 14 points to lead the Gamecocks (18-0, 6-0 Southeastern Conference), who beat the Tigers (18-3, 5-2) for the 15th straight time and snapped LSU’s 29-game home winning streak.
Raven Johnson had 13 points, Te-Hina Paopao 12 and Kamilla Cardoso 11. Hall finished with 10 points, eight in the final seven minutes.
Big. Game. @breezyhalll
𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐝𝐭 pic.twitter.com/ktVk2H17GP— South Carolina Women's Basketball (@GamecockWBB) January 26, 2024
Aneesah Morrow had 16 points and 13 rebounds for LSU. Angel Reese had 15 points and eight rebounds but fouled out with 4:02 left and the Tigers clinging to a 67-65 lead. Johnson hit two free throws to tie it, and LSU made only one basket the rest of the way — a 3-pointer by Hailey Van Lith that tied the game at 70-all with 1:42 left.
Van Lith finished with 12 points. Mikaylah Williams scored 12 and Flau’jae Johnson had 10.
South Carolina took its first lead since the first basket of the game when Cardoso converted a layup for a 63-61 advantage with 6:06 left in the fourth.
Just thought @breezyhalll might have to hit the showers early 😂😂😂 pic.twitter.com/eHgONV83Wn
— South Carolina Women's Basketball (@GamecockWBB) January 26, 2024
Notables
- South Carolina’s victory over the Tigers marked the 1000th win in the program’s history.
- The win marked the end of LSU’s 29 game win streak at home and extended the Gamecocks’ SEC-record road win streak to 28.
- South Carolina faced a halftime deficit for just the second time this season, rallying for the win both times.
- After a six-point deficit in the first quarter, the South Carolina offense took charge, outscoring LSU in each of the remaining three periods, including finishing each half on a 6-0 run.
- For the 12th time this season – the Gamecocks finished with five or more players in double-figures.
- Chloe Kitts proved to be invaluable early on, scoring nine of the team’s first 11 points en route to a new SEC career-high 14.
- Raven Johnson finished with a near double-double, putting up 13 points and nine boards, all while dishing out four assists. Johnson had half of the Gamecocks’ 6-0 run to finish out the game.
- Bree Hall got hot right when it mattered, scoring eight of her 10 points in the final quarter, including back-to-back 3s to extend South Carolina’s lead going into the final minute of play.
- Te-Hina Paopao had her 16th game hitting two or more 3s, finishing in double-digits for the 14th time this season while leading the team with an SEC-high six assists.
- Kamilla Cardoso dominated in the second half, powering home eight points and five boards playing all 20 minutes to close out the game.