After South Carolina’s three ranked opponents in 10 days, a spicy test in the state of Louisiana and an approaching trip to Connecticut, the trapdoor began to open at the Colonial Life Arena.
USC star Aliyah Boston held his head in frustration after a first half basket. Gunner Zia Cooke was faced with problems early in the game and the Gamecocks found themselves in a 1-point gap at halftime against an Alabama team that had won 17 consecutive times.
Instead, the No. 4 Gamecocks recovered with another wave in the second half towards a 87-63 victory and a 25th consecutive regular season victory as the best of the program at the Southeast Conference.
Cooke scored 21 points in 26 minutes and Destanni Henderson added 14 points, six rebounds and three steals to avoid disappointment. Victaria Saxton and Brea Beal combined 21 points. Boston was the only starter not to reach double digits with six points and 13 rebounds.
South Carolina (14-1, 9-0) overwhelmed Alabama with a defensive zone out of range and attacked the ring with its second 18-5 streak in the game. This time, Crimson Tide (12-4, 5-4) was unable to keep up.
USC coach Dawn Staley said her team did not dictate from the defensive point of view in the first half and relied on interval adjustments to create an attack.
“We went through the transition and got some easy buckets, we made some offensive adjustments to change its zone,” said Staley. “We were not in a flow, so I thought that some adjustments we made at halftime gave us some easy appearances.”
As Boston continued to be invaded, Gamecocks manufactured great leadership through their speedy guards and creating easy baskets created easy baskets.
Cooke added 12 points in the third quarter and the USC deflected the deficit in the second half to a 24 point win and 11th straight win.
“I really didn’t realize what the score was … it was a fluid thing for me,” said Cooke of his second-half firepower. “Whenever I enter my stream, I try to stay there. My teammates were catching the ball at good angles and in places where I could score and it worked.”
South Carolina, which will presumably climb to second place in the next Top 25 of the Associated Press, will visit Auburn on Thursday ahead of its Top 5 meeting with the Huskies next Monday in Storrs.
NOTE: South Carolina will receive Ole Miss on February 25 at the Colonial Life Arena with time to be determined. The meeting originally scheduled for December 31 was canceled due to problems with COVID-19 under the Rebels program. USC spun and played in Florida that day. Tickets issued for the original February 25 game against the Gators will be honored for the Ole Miss game on the same date.