Number 5, South Carolina, reached a 7-0 lead to start the game and rolled over Alabama 77-60. Carolina was led by two juniors. Goalkeeper Destanni Henderson led the way with 20 points, eight rebounds, five assists and just one turn. Striker Victaria Saxton had 15 points and six rebounds, all on the offensive side of the court. It was Gamecocks’ 17th consecutive win in the series. Alabama guard Jordan Lewis led all scorers with 28 points, his career record. The Gamecocks have won their fourth game in a row and are 7-1 overall, and 2-0 in the SEC game. Below are my top seven lessons from victory
She has the game
ESPN writer Mechele Voepel joined the press conference after the game to ask Staley about the sensational second-year guard Zia Cooke, crediting the 5-foot-9 Sophomore as being one of the most dominant and consistent guards in the country, and Staley gave Cooke due. However, it was really Henderson’s game that caught his coach’s attention. Henderson is growing in his role as a leader and key distributor of basketball. But when she manages to get down and speed up, there’s no better guard at the SEC.
Henderson, although one of the top 10 national recruits, and the main point guard of the 2017 class is still under the radar compared to the players of the best ranked class of 2018. But her game will guarantee her a place in the Dawn Staley Watchlist of the award when it is released. It’s not just your score that is getting Staley’s attention. It is his calm and uniform approach to the game. Staley noted after the game that Henderson never gets too high with the highs or too low with the lows, something that has stabilized his game this season. In the season, Henderson made 44 assists, compared with just 14 plays, more than three to one. Even when she’s not scoring, Henderson is still impacting the game on the offensive side. At the SEC opening against Florida, Henderson had just two points, but had a career record with nine assists. It also regains its position. Eight rebounds last night and seven against the Gators. The 5’7 junior is taking his game to the next level and, like Ty Harris last season, has gone unnoticed until now, but Staley was quick to talk about Henderson’s game and his emergence as one of the country’s top guards , just like she did last season, when Harris’s play went unnoticed.
Empire on foot
South Carolina tends to dominate the councils. He is a major tenant on the Staley program. Last night, the Gamecocks dominated the scoring against defeated Crimson Tide, hitting ‘Bama 55-31, and had 26 offensive rebounds, against just seven for Alabama. This leads to second chance points, limits opponents to just one shot and leads to quick break points. I’ll have more on that later. South Carolina’s four best rebounds combined more rebounds than the entire Alabama team. Aliyah Boston and Brea Beal led with 10 rebounds each. Henderson was eight and Saxton was six. Four players matching 34 rebounds in a SEC road game.
A Few Good (Wo) Men
South Carolina played the first of three SEC games it will play this week. Thursday, Carolina will play with a better, athletic team from Georgia, before traveling to Lexington, KY to face what could be one of Kentucky’s top 10 teams, coming from an impressive overtime victory over the state of Mississippi. The Gamecocks ran heavy minutes of their matches and only one reserve played more than 15 minutes. Here is the range of minutes played last night. Boston 35, Henderson 34, Cooke 33, Saxton 26, Beal and Grissett 24. The sophomore, Laeticia Amihere, played just 15 minutes and attracted Staley’s ire as she may not have studied the scout’s report, leaving Jasmine Alabama striker Walker, fully open to his back – three behind in the first half. Amihere did not play again until the fourth half. No one else in the squad played more than 93 seconds of cleaning service at the end of the game.
Money ball
The 2011 film with the same name was about baseball, but about a new approach using analysis to build a cast and style of play that would lead to victory. Analyzes are important in all sports today. Each team has a handful of key statistics that usually determine the outcome of the games. I can usually look at the box score, not the final score, and get a good idea of whether Gamecocks won or lost. Here are the main statistics to watch for this team. Rebounds: 55-31, Offensive rebounds 26-7, Fastbreak points 21-4, second chance points 22-11, points in paint 46-32. These are the main statistics of this team. I did not include a single percentage of shots, I mentioned blocked shots, steals or a percentage of three-point shots. All of these things are important, especially missed layups and free throws. Last night, Gamecocks often recovered their own lost layups and then made layups. The free throw percentage is becoming a factor. Gamecocks go a lot to the line, but some players are really fighting the charity band. Last night, Carolina managed to make just 12 of the 24 attempts on the line, for a meager 50 percent. That statistic has to increase. Victaria Saxton was 3-7 and Lele Grissett was 2-7. For the season, three Gamecocks are below 60 percent. Grissett only made 8-24, 33%. Beal is 4-11, 36 percent and Saxton is 15-26, for 58 percent.
True Grit
This became a recurring theme at Staley’s post-game press conferences. She says her team lacks real courage, which she defines as physical and mental resistance. Before the season, Staley feared that his team could be “too cool”. While we are still waiting for someone to take on the personality of “Mad Kiki”, this is not the only characteristic of true courage. It is digging at the defensive end of the ground. The submission is made by contact, something that the two tallest players in South Carolina did not do last night. After rising from a 28-point career high, 1.80 meter Aliyah Boston scored just five points in shots from 2 to 10. Everyone was inside the painting. The 1.80 m Amihere, which has a wingspan of 1.80 m, fought again, going just 1-7 from the field, while also making five turns.
Crossing Jordan
Alabama owner Jordan Lewis had her way with the Gamecocks last night, setting a career record of 28 points after setting her previous 27 point mark in Alabama’s SEC debut against Missouri. The 5-foot-7 senior red shirt was unstoppable most of the night, entering the track and blowing through the defenders, drawing fouls and reaching the free-throw line, where he made 9 of 11 attempts. Zia Cooke, in particular, struggled to get ahead of Lewis. Staley commented after the game that they had to come up with a different plan to contain Lewis, who scored 19 of his 28 points in the second half.
Better late than never
Cooke had three very consistent first quarters, scoring just seven points in the first half. Staley said Cooke’s problems were largely due to the Nike basketball Alabama uses. The grip is different from the Wilson ball that Gamecocks use to practice and play. Cooke conceded 11 points in the second half to finish with 18 points in 8-17 shots, including 2-3 in the three-point range. For the season, Cooke is shooting 18-35 in the three-point range, good for 51.4 percent. Cooke also leads the team in free throw shots, making 26-32, which is good for more than 81 percent. Cooke also leads the team by scoring 18.8 points per game. One area where the dynamic player should improve is turnovers. She also leads the team in this dubious distinction with 19 in the season, with four of them entering last night’s competition.
Next
Gamecocks play in Georgia on Thursday night at 7 pm and will be broadcast on SEC Network + and the ESPN app.