South Carolina Basketball: Gamecocks Advance to SEC Tournament Final with Sharp Win over Ole Miss

2-0. That was the score after Yolett McPhee-McCuin’s Ole Miss squad took the early lead on Dawn Staley’s South Carolina basketball team. A frantic start saw loose balls, blocked shots, and hard-fought rebounds as Ole Miss came out fast and aggressive. The Lady Rebs held the Gamecocks scoreless for over two minutes before Aliyah Boston tied things at 2-2 with a nice move in the post. After that Boston bucket, the juggernaut that is South Carolina basketball never trailed again.

The South Carolina-heavy crowd in Greenville’s Bon Secours Wellness Arena was whipped into a frenzy by an 11-2 run fueled by the Gamecocks’ aggressive defense and 10 points in the paint. The noise was silenced, though, as senior point guard Kierra Fletcher rolled her ankle stepping on Madison Scott’s foot and had to be taken immediately to the locker room.

After playing a tight game that went into overtime against the Rebels just two weeks ago, a moment like this could have thrown the Gamecocks’ focus and allowed Ole Miss to cut into the early deficit. Instead, fellow senior guard Zia Cooke lived up to her role as the team’s leading scorer as she scored seven points in the first quarter to lead the white-clad Gamecocks to a 25-14 lead.

The second period began with a frenetic pace that saw both teams play a sloppy brand of basketball for the first seventy seconds until Kamilla Cardoso’s offensive rebound and putback after a miss. Back-and-forth basketball ensued and allowed Mississippi to cut the lead slightly until Coach Staley brought Boston and Cooke back into the game. Surprisingly, a limping Kierra Fletcher returned to action, as well.

Boston, Cardoso, and Laeticia Amihere began to choke the life out of the Rebels’ offense as the Gamecocks held Marquesha Davis and company to just one point over the next three minutes. Amihere also continued her aggressive play from the end of yesterday’s Arkansas game as she scored eight quick points, snatched three rebounds, and swatted two Rebel layup attempts. Two straight buckets for Ole Miss came at the expense of a hobbled Fletcher to bring the margin back down to twelve points at 35-23.

The scoring slowed as McPhee-McCuin’s team was held to just one made field goal over the final four minutes of the half. The Gamecocks added two buckets and a free throw during the same stretch to extend their lead to 40-25 when the halftime buzzer sounded. Boston, Cardoso, and Amihere’s continued defensive brilliance was the driving force behind the growing lead as they combined for six blocks and altered numerous other shot attempts.

The undefeated regular season SEC champs came out of the locker room playing like champions. South Carolina’s suffocating defense continued making life difficult for the fourth-seeded Ole Miss team. Four minutes of clock ticked away before the ladies from Oxford saw a shot drop through the rim as they started the second half 0-8 from the field.

The Gamecocks pushed the lead to 19 after Brea Beal scored her ninth and tenth points of the contest on a long two-point jumper, and the team’s ball screen defense caused significant problems for the opposing offense. Carolina’s long and switchable bigs gave the Rebels no clean looks even when multiple screens were set.

Aliyah Boston set the South Carolina basketball career record for rebounds in the third period when she grabbed board number 1428 of her career, passing the legendary Sheila Foster. Before the end of the quarter, the Gamecock lead had ballooned to 24 points and, even after some solid play from Ole Miss to end the period, the lead finished at 19 as the score stood 58-39.

The fourth quarter was ten minutes of cruise control for Dawn Staley’s group. The starters began the period on the floor but were relieved by reserves. This was no issue for the Gamecocks as the country’s best bench unit extended the lead while in the game. The final quarter ended with the Gamecocks holding the Ole Miss starters to 15-51 from the floor and holding the entire team to an anemic 29.4% shooting for the game. No Rebel shot better than 43% as the garnet and black defense forced 48 missed shots.

In addition to Boston eclipsing the Gamecock career rebounding mark, the reigning National Player of the Year notched her 80th career double-double, including eight-straight in SEC Tournament play. As she often does, #4 dominated the game without having to score tons of points. Her unselfish style of play opened things up for her teammates to put the ball in the basket, and Laeticia Amihere, Zia Cooke, Kamilla Cardoso, and Brea Beal obliged by combining for 56 points.

SEC 6th Woman of the Year Cardoso joined Boston with a double-double of her own, and the versatile Amihere added seven assists and six boards to her stat line. Raven Johnson, filling in for Kierra Fletcher, dished out five assists and added some confidence that could be important as she will likely have a larger role on Sunday with Fletcher still nursing her injured ankle.

The South Carolina basketball team will take on the winner of two-seed LSU and three-seed Tennessee in the SEC Tournament final on Sunday at 3:00 on ESPN and the ESPN App.

Even more than just being part of the team’s pursuit of perfection and their quest for consecutive national titles, the Gamecocks will be out for blood on Sunday. A year ago, college basketball’s best team was deprived of their third straight SEC Tournament championship when they were upset by the Kentucky Wildcats in the Tournament final. Make no mistake, this team has every intention of making the drive down I-26 to Columbia on Sunday night with another trophy in hand.

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