South Carolina Basketball: Lady Gamecocks Remain Unbeaten after Winning at UConn

Dawn Staley and her South Carolina basketball team faced their toughest test of the season on the road at UConn on Sunday afternoon. A top-5 contest, the Gamecock-Husky battle was one that lived up to the hype that caused the game to be sold out, despite it being played at the larger XL Center in Hartford instead of on UConn’s campus in Storrs.

In a matchup of women’s college basketball’s heavyweights, UConn came out swinging aggressively. They attacked the basket and defended the Gamecocks more aggressively than they had been defended all season. UConn’s Lou Lopez-Senechal added the exclamation on top of the dominant quarter for Geno Auriemma’s squad with a buzzer-beating jumper from the top of the key. The opening assault provided the Huskies with an eleven-point lead at the end of the first quarter, and South Carolina’s top players were struggling.

After taking the first quarter on the chin, the Gamecocks countered. The charge was led by the South Carolina bench who came alive to lead a lightning-quick comeback that saw the reserve unit outscore UConn’s 24-0 in the first half. The Gamecocks’ effort level increased, as well, as the defense tightened up and rebounders did their jobs. Kamilla Cardoso delivered the final blow of the period that tied things up at 34 before the halftime break when she scored her tenth and eleventh points of the first twenty minutes.

The second half saw Aliyah Boston reassert her dominance. After she and South Carolina’s leading scorer Zia Cooke struggled to get going in the first half, Boston upped her scoring to twelve points and crashed the boards much more aggressively than she had in the first half. Kamilla Cardoso continued her high-level play from the first half, and Raven Johnson provided a spark as she started the second half at point guard. UConn made enough plays to keep the game close heading into the final period, but, despite only trailing the Gamecocks by three points, Aaliyah Edwards’ foul trouble and the Huskies’ injury concerns started to reveal UConn’s depth issues.

The 15,000+ fans on hand in Hartford witnessed an exciting fourth quarter. Brea Beal made the Gamecocks’ first three-pointer of the night (on their twelfth attempt), and Raven Johnson immediately made another on the next possession. An exhausted UConn team continued scoring at a more efficient rate than South Carolina, but the Gamecocks’ size advantage on the boards provided an edge for them to pull away as Boston and Cardoso both finished with a double-double. UConn was only able to play six players with big minutes, and a valiant comeback effort led by Dorka Juhasz and Aaliyah Edwards fell short. Carolina’s two posts proved to be too much for Connecticut as Boston finished with 26 points and 12 rebounds, and Cardoso ended the game with 17 points and 10 rebounds. Dawn Staley’s Gamecocks remain undefeated at 23-0.

If South Carolina and Connecticut continue this level of play, Sunday afternoon’s game may not be the final time the two teams see each other this season.