Boston Cooke leads South Carolina’s No. 2 over Auburn 77-58

By JOHN ZENOR
The Associated Press

AUBURN, Ala. – The South Carolina Gamecocks clearly did not leave the locker room distracted by the big game that was approaching.

Zia Cooke scored all 17 points in a dominant first half and Aliyah Boston added 14 points and eight rebounds to lead South Carolina’s runner-up over Auburn 77-58 on Thursday night.

The Gamecocks (15-1, 10-0 Southeastern Conference) built impressive leadership and achieved a streak of 12 consecutive victories on Monday’s visit to No. 3 Connecticut. The reserves went into action in the second half, when the game got closer.

“That was kind of hard to watch,” said coach Dawn Staley, adding that she may have played against the starters for even more minutes than she intended. This gave her something to improve after taking a 47-18 lead at halftime.

“We just have to do better,” said Staley. “We have to play better on both sides of basketball, but it is good to bring some people there who have not played for many minutes this year, because they need playing experience.”

Cooke hit three points out of 3 within 50 seconds of the first quarter, while Gamecocks jumped 26-6 over Tigers (5-12, 0-9). She had 14 points in the quarter, including a chance at the bench at the bell.

“If you look at your statistics and your ability to catch and shoot, it is very accurate,” said Staley. “When she gets clean, it seems that at the start of the shooting clock, her feet are firm, they are expected 3s and more often she is very efficient with that.

“Yes, I want her to give all eyes open.”

Boston hit 7 of 8 shots for South Carolina, which hit 49.2% of the ground (31 of 63), despite having cooled down considerably in the second half.

Victaria Saxton scored 11 points and Lele Grissett 10 for the Gamecocks. Destanni Henderson conceded nine assists without making a comeback.

South Carolina hit 18 of the 31 shots (58.1%) before the break.

Staley didn’t let anyone play for more than 25 minutes and nine players registered at least 14.

“She added some subs. Some players came in, I didn’t know who they were, ”said Auburn coach Terri Williams-Flournoy. “They are very good and can reach you in many different ways.”

Honesty Scott-Grayson led Auburn with 15 points. The SEC’s main rebound, Unique Thompson, scored 10 points from 4 of 13 shots and had eight rebounds. Those were eight points and six bags below their season averages.

BIG PICTURE

South Carolina: Won its 26th consecutive game in the SEC’s regular season, equaling the State of Mississippi for the fifth longest time in league history. He has 11 consecutive wins over the Tigers.

Auburn: It started 2 out of 27 from the floor (7.4%) for the second quarter. Shooting ended 23 out of 66 (34.8%). It remains unsuccessful in SEC games and never represents a major challenge in this.

NCAA TOURNAMENT

The San Antonio region will host the entire NCAA women’s basketball tournament.

The change on Friday was made to help mitigate the risks of COVID-19 and the men’s tournament games, which the NCAA said last month will be played in Indianapolis.

The tournament will still have 64 teams and will take place from March 21 to April 4. The NCAA will use five locations for the opening round, including the University of Texas, which is 80 miles from San Antonio, as the location.