South Carolina recovers to defeat Kentucky 76-55

By PETE IACOBELLI
The Associated Press

COLOMBIA – Zia Cooke scored 21 points from the South Carolina return after her first defeat at the Southeast Conference in two seasons, with a 76-55 victory over Kentucky on Sunday.

The Gamecocks (18-3, 13-1 SEC) defeated 31 opponents in a row in the league before exploding a double-digit lead in the second half for 21st Tennessee on Thursday night.

The USC dropped from second to fifth in the Associated Press poll released on Monday. Kentucky fell from 17th to 19th position, while Tennessee climbed to 20th position.

Cooke and South Carolina’s petty defense ensured it would not be two consecutive defeats. The Gamecocks held Rhyne Howard with 12 points out of 2 out of 11 shots, while senior LeLe Grissett followed the Kentucky star for much of the game.

Point guard Destanni Henderson scored 14 points on the Gamecocks’ backcourt in a game in which central Aliyah Boston finished with four points, the lowest number of the season, nine less than his average.

South Carolina burst quickly in the second half, when Grissett and Henderson made baskets to open a 38-30 lead.

A Kentucky timeout (15-6, 8-5) in less than a minute did not stop the Gamecocks’ onslaught and when Cooke drove to the rim for a tray, he missed and hit the free throw, they were 43-32 and crossing to the fourth straight over the Wildcats.

Cooke said losing in Tennessee after the 37-21 lead was a “bore” because of how hard they worked. “But we were together, we trained a lot and we knew we would be victorious if we kept the game plan.”

Kentucky came in pointing to this one. After all, the Wildcats had a 9-point lead at home in South Carolina last month, before dropping 75-70.

But they failed to overcome South Carolina’s relentless defensive pressure. The Wildcats scored just eight field goals and Howard did not score goals in the first 17 minutes, as they were left behind by 31-21.

Howard, however, broke free with a pair of 3 points to lead a Kentucky 9-2 burst on the straight and lost just 34-30 in the interval.

South Carolina dulled any hopes of Kentucky rally with its quick start to the third quarter. The Gamecocks held Howard for just six false kicks in the final 20 minutes, when she missed all six attempts at her field goal after the break.

Grissett said Howard was the most important person on the court for Kentucky and the Gamecocks made a point of making it difficult for her. “Just brake and focus on what’s in front of us,” she said.

Grissett, the team’s only veteran honored before the complaint, had 13 points and Laeticia Amihere had 12 points and 12 rebounds for her third double-double this season.

Kentucky coach Kyra Elzy did not think Howard was out of play, instead, he gave credit to South Carolina for defending his side of the field to kick away. Elzy said the defeat was both his team’s struggle to recover.

“We didn’t have the resistance we needed to recover,” she said.