With all the spotlight on All-Americans A'ja Wilson and Alaina Coates, transfer guards Kaela Davis and Allisha Gray stole the show Monday night as the No. 4 South Carolina women's basketball team took down the No. 7 Ohio State Buckeyes on the road.
Davis and Gray combined with starting point guard Bianca Cuevas-Moore to score 70 points in the Gamecocks' 92-80 win. Davis, the team's leading scorer with 37 points, also came away with 10 rebounds, five assists and three steals.
The transfers were expected to take a backseat to Wilson and Coates in the offense this season, but the former All-ACC stars combined for 39 shot attempts, not to mention 24 free throws. Davis was particularly efficient, making four of her six attempts from beyond the arc and knocking down 13 of 16 at the line.
The game see-sawed back and forth in the early going, but the Gamecocks took a decisive lead in the second quarter, never trailing after a layup from Gray put them up 24-23.
Even though the All-American bigs combined for just 15 points, South Carolina got the win largely due to its 48-36 advantage on rebounds, led by a game-high 13 from Coates. The senior also added 10 points, three assists and a block.
Wilson had the toughest night of the Gamecock starters, getting up just three shots and finishing with five points before fouling out in the fourth quarter. The junior added three rebounds and three blocks as well.
South Carolina will return home Sunday to take on Hampton at 3 p.m.