COLOMBIA, SC (AP) – Raina Perez made a 3-point basket with 3:07 remaining that put North Carolina’s No. 8 ahead to stay and Wolfpack ended the sequence of 29 consecutive South Carolina’s No. 1 games with a win from 54-46 on Thursday night.
Wolfpack (3-0) defeated a top-ranked opponent for the first time since Duke’s elimination at the 2007 Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament.
South Carolina (3-1) lost for the first time since falling to Indiana on November 28, 2019, and the first time at home since the 68-64 loss to the State of Mississippi at the end of the regular season ago two seasons.
Gamecocks were freezing all the time, shooting 28% of the field.
Kayla Jones led the state of North Carolina with 16 points, Elissa Cunane added 14 points, five rebounds and four blocks, and Perez finished with 11 points.
Cunane made two free kicks to put Wolfpack ahead 48-44 with less than two minutes left. But Zia Cooke’s theft and layup tied South Carolina with a basket 53.4 seconds from the end. After a time limit, Wolfpack threw the ball around a Jones wide open for a 3-point basket.
When LeLe Grissett was called in for a charge in possession of the next ball, the celebration began 15 seconds from the end.
Cooke and Laeticia Amihere led the Gamecocks with 11 points each. Amihere also had 15 rebounds.
Both teams remained in defense in the first half, making the fight defensive to score points.
Wolfpack hit 25%, but was better than South Carolina, who made 8 of 37 and missed 14 consecutive shots.
THE GREAT IMAGE
State of North Carolina: The Wolfpack packaged the medium against the escape Gamecocks and worked while they kept South Carolina in a low season of 28%.
South Carolina: Gamecocks have been tested in their last three ball games and have not yet established themselves as the dominant and unforgiving team they were a year ago.
NEXT
North Carolina State: hosts Coastal Carolina on Sunday.
South Carolina: In the 23rd state of Iowa on Sunday.
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