SAN ANTONIO – South Carolina coach Dawn Staley was already thinking about the future after achieving her 500th career victory in the first round of the NCAA women’s tournament.
“Five hundred and one sounds good, and so on,” said Staley.
Aliyah Boston had 20 points and 18 rebounds and Victaria Saxton also scored 20, leading the top Gamecocks to a 79-53 victory over Mercer on Sunday.
South Carolina (23-4) took the lead forever when they closed the first half with a streak of 16-5 after a timeout by Staley, who had started the second quarter with what she called a “funky lineup” on the court.
“She kind of talked about how we haven’t played in the past two weeks, so we’re just trying to get back on track. Don’t worry about it. Keep pushing,” Saxton said of the coach’s message during the timeout. “So that’s what we did. We just went there and kept playing our game. ”
Gamecocks were national champions in 2017, when the Final Four was last played in Texas. They went 32-1 last season, spent the last 10 weeks at No. 1 and Staley was the AP coach of the year, but they didn’t have a chance to win another title because the NCAA tournament was canceled because of the pandemic.
South Carolina’s next game is a fight against Oregon State on Tuesday.
Staley is 328-102 in his 13 seasons in South Carolina, after doing 172-80 in eight seasons at Temple. SEC tournament champion Gamecocks is in its ninth consecutive NCAA tournament, winning in the first round each time.
“I mean, it’s a major milestone,” said Staley. “That means you’ve been in the game for a long time. And it’s more than likely that you’ve had some great players that allow you to get to this point, from my days at the Temple to my days in South Carolina. … I’m indebted to them. ”
It was Boston’s 28th double-double in 60 career games. American Virgin Islands All-American striker had 15 points and 10 rebounds in the interval. She made a 3-point shot at the doorbell, which came just after Jada Lewis de Mercer hit a 3 to end an 11-0 run for the Gamecocks.
After losing 11 points in the first quarter, Mercer opened the second with a 15-4 streak. They drew at 27 on a long jump from Amoria Neal-Tysor, leading Staley to a timeout, not long after Neal-Tysor had a theft and a tray to separate.
Mercer coach Susie Gardner said her team had two goals for the game: slowing down the ball and not letting Gamecocks achieve easy transition layups, which the Bears did with some effectiveness, and preventing them from receiving offensive rebounds.
“We did a very bad job with that, and that was the difference in the game, ” said Gardner.” They attacked us in the offensive glass. ”
With Boston, Saxton and 1.80m striker Laeticia Amihere (11 points, eight rebounds) at the front, South Carolina had a 52-27 rebound advantage, which included 21 offensive rebounds and 23 second points. chance. Gamecocks had a 42-16 scoring advantage in painting.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.