COLOMBIA, SC (AP) – Zia Cooke scored 12 of her 21 points in the third quarter, while the 4th South Carolina won the 18th consecutive victory over Alabama and the 28th consecutive over the Southeast Conference opponents with a 87-63 victory on Sunday.
Cooke, the team’s top scorer, struggled to find his touch early, with just four points in the break, while the Gamecocks (14-1, 9-0 SEC) lost. But Cooke, the fast lightning of the 1.75m second year, gave a big boost after the break by leading a 15-5 wave that put South Carolina ahead forever.
Aliyah Boston started the decisive straight with a starting tray. Soon after, Cooke hit a 3-point and a pair of driving layups while South Carolina advanced 51-46. When Cooke added three more a minute later, the Gamecocks were at 58-46 and would not be captured.
Alabama (12-4, 5-4) seemed for a time that it was ready to end its long losing streak for the Gamecocks, who lost to Crimson Tide in 2008 before the arrival of coach Dawn Staley.
This time, however, Crimson Tide took advantage of open kicks and poor defense near the end of the first half to lead 41-40 – only the fourth time this season South Carolina lost in the interval.
Lewis hit a pair of 3s and Abrams another from a long distance, with Alabama opening up a 16-8 lead. After South Carolina recovered to open a seven-point lead, Walker hit a pair of 3s and Destiny Rice opened up an open track to put Crimson Tide ahead.
Cooke and Boston were just 3 of 11 shots in the first two quarters and South Carolina missed 11 of their 15 final shots in the second period.
Things changed after the break, when Cooke took South Carolina to its 11th consecutive victory since its only loss, a 54-46 loss to the 2nd state of North Carolina on December 3.
Jordan Lewis led Alabama with 19 points, while Jasmine Walker had 15 before dropping out.
The Gamecocks had three others with double-digit scores: Destanni Henderson had 14 points, Brea Beal had 11 and Victaria Saxton 10.
Henderson also made seven assists and six rebounds.
Boston posted his second consecutive game with a single digit score, the 14.2-point player getting just 6 points out of 2 out of 10 shots. Boston 6-5 had a team with 13 rebounds, six assists and three blocks.
THE GREAT IMAGE
Alabama: Crimson Tide had a good performance this season – their 5-3 SEC start in this game was the best since 1997-98 – and had a reliable score on Lewis and Jasmine Walker. But, like many teams, they lack the strength to stay with South Carolina for four quarters.
South Carolina: Expect Gamecocks to come closer to the top in the next rankings. Along with two more decisive SEC victories this week, South Carolina is expected to benefit from the defeats of North Carolina’s 2nd state and 3rd UConn.
NEXT
Alabama faces its third consecutive opponent when it faces Georgia number 22 on Thursday night.
South Carolina goes to Auburn on Thursday night.
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