SIOUX FALLS, SD – Destanni Henderson and Zia Cooke each scored 19 points, and best-placed South Carolina retired from South Dakota for a 81-71 victory at the Bad Boy Mowers Crossover Classic on Saturday.
Henderson finished two points ahead of his career record. She had 8 of 13 on the floor and also had nine rebounds.
Chloe Lamb led South Dakota (0-1) with 18 points, and Hannah Sjerven added 15 points and 12 rebounds.
South Carolina (2-0) lost by five during the second quarter and the game was tied at 37-37 in the interval before the Gamecocks departed. They overcame the Coyotes by 31-11 in the third quarter, and Cooke’s basket with 19 seconds left gave Gamecocks an advantage of 20 points to enter the final game.
They increased the lead to 21 in the fourth period, before South Dakota reduced it to seven, with just under a minute to go.
BIG PICTURE
The size of South Carolina ended up wearing out the Coyotes. The Gamecocks overcame South Dakota by 45-37 and had 15 offensive cards.
NEXT
South Carolina faces Gonzaga at the Bad Boy Mowers Crossover Classic on Tuesday at 3pm.
South Dakota faces Gonzaga on Wednesday at 3 pm Eastern Time.
No. 1 South Carolina stumbles, rallies to beat South Dakota originally appeared on NBCSports.com