Georgia women’s basketball dropped to fourth place in South Carolina by 62-50 on Thursday night at the Colonial Life Arena in Columbia.
Both teams from the Southeast Conference are classified in the AP Poll and came from dominant victories. After defeating No. 23 Tennessee and winning a 16 point win against Ole Miss, Georgia entered 22nd place on Thursday. No. 4 South Carolina ended its victory against No. 15 Arkansas. Georgia seemed to have a new twist, but fought offensively against Gamecocks striker Aliyah Boston.
Boston ended the night with his first triple-double performance in the SEC game, scoring 16 points, 11 rebounds and 10 blocks. Jenna Staiti, a veteran of the Georgia red shirt, who led the SEC with 37 blocks entering on Thursday, failed to overcome the six-foot striker as she scored 15 points.
That Morrison, from Georgia, also ended the night with 15 points.
“Boston is fun to watch. I don’t necessarily like to play against her, but she is fun to watch, ”said coach Joni Taylor. “The way she can defend herself, the way she can recover, her second shot is sometimes her best shot, she just has the full package.”
Both teams scored seven fouls and a total of 21 rebounds to make a low scoring first period. After South Carolina’s Victaria Saxton layup, Boston placed consecutive blocks and a defensive rebound to make the Bulldogs goalless in the first minute of play.
Staiti gave Georgia her first and only advantage of the evening at the start of the first, but was quickly offset by a tray from Zia Cooke. Gamecocks ended the quarter with a 15-10 lead, with Cooke securing the last four points of the quarter.
South Carolina had a 7-0 lead at the start of the second half. Morrison, Staiti and Mikayla Coombs reduced the lead to eight before a three-minute goalless period. Gamecocks had six rebounds in those three minutes and overcame Bulldogs 15-8.
South Carolina secured 15 turning points in the first half, while Georgia added four. Cooke jumped from the last second jump as Georgia headed for the locker room 28-18.
A 17-4 run in Carolina with two minutes remaining highlighted the third quarter, with the Gamecocks hitting 46.7% and making 5 to 6 on the free-throw line.
Georgia beat South Carolina 22-12 in the fourth and finished the second half with 10 points from rebounds, while the Bulldogs had five. Gamecocks forced 23 turnovers and finished with 19 second chance points.
Georgia will return to Athens to face Arkansas number 15 at the Stegeman Coliseum.
“I think the message we send home is that everyone needs to be ready to go,” said Taylor. “We missed a lot of shots tonight, again, this is attributed to South Carolina’s length and athleticism, and its ability to stand in front of us and fire some shots. But, as a whole, we look forward to returning tomorrow to prepare for the next game. “