The Daily Gamecock

No. 4 Gamecocks fall to Lady Vols at home

With South Carolina’s two All-American post players picking up early fouls, the Tennessee Volunteers were able to exploit the void left by A’ja Wilson and Alaina Coates to spark a 76-74 upset victory Monday night.

Both teams traded baskets early, but Carolina was able to build a lead before the end of the first period. Wilson led the way, scoring eight points in the first period to give the Gamecocks a seven-point lead.

With Coates already on the bench with a pair of fouls, Wilson picked up a pair to join her. That sparked a run by Tennessee down low to dominate the second period. The Volunteers owned the second frame with a commanding 19-10 edge. They controlled the paint, outscoring USC 22-10 to take a 39-36 lead into the half.

It was a defensive 10 minutes in the third quarter with the Gamecocks winning the period 17-13 to take a 53-52 lead into the fourth.

Tennessee started the fourth period strong, as a deep 3-point basket from Alexa Middleton sparked an 11-0 run by the Volunteers. With under four minutes remaining, the Vols had a commanding lead.

With time running out, the Gamecocks went on a 7-0 run that was capped off by a Bianca Cuevas-Moore three-pointer to cut the lead to two with under a minute remaining. Tennessee’s Jaime Nared scored six of the Vols’ last seven points. The last two came from the foul-line after a controversial call on USC’s Tyasha Harris. Those free throws put the Vols up 76-74 with a little over five seconds remaining. Cuevas-Moore missed a 3-point shot at the end as Tennessee pulled off the upset.

Tennessee wins battle in the paint

The Gamecocks were outscored down low 38-26. Most of the damage occurred with Coates and Wilson on the bench in foul trouble.

“I mean you don’t have your two All-Americans for the first half, you don’t have ways to prepare for that," coach Dawn Staley said. “Having both of them out of the game, it’s pretty hard putting players in positions they haven’t played.”

Tennessee went into the paint often to exploit the advantage. The Lady Vols were able to create mismatches with Mercedes Russell scoring 16 points and gathering 10 rebounds for a double-double.



Cuevas-Moore steps up in the fourth

With Coates and Wilson in foul trouble, Cuevas-Moore stepped up to provide consistent shooting for the Gamecocks. She hit a huge 3-pointer in the final minute to tie the game.

“Cuevas, she was gutsy tonight," Tennessee coach Holly Warlick said. “She nailed that 3 and it was going in when it left her hand.”

She led the team with 18 points. She also got the Gamecocks' final shot, a 3-pointer that would have won the game but it was too strong.

“I thought BK (Cuevas-Moore) gave us some great minutes," Staley said. “She put us on her back and got us back in the game and gave us a shot to win.” 

Controversy at the end

With the game tied after Cuevas-Moore’s 3-pointer, the officials called a blocking foul on USC’s Allisha Gray when Nared collided with the guard. The foul sent Nared to the line for the game winning free throws.

When asked about the final play, Staley answered, “I saw what everybody else saw.” On the officials as a whole, Staley said, “It’s part of the game and I promised my staff I was not going to go there and I’m not going to go there, but it’s part of the game. I just want to make sure that we learn from it. We have to make adjustments to how the game is played out and how the game is called.” 

Tennessee was led by Nared, who had a game-high 27 points. She hit 12-of-15 from the foul line, including the final four points for the Lady Vols. They had two more in double figures as Diamond DeShields scored 21 and Russell scored 16.

South Carolina was led by Cuevas-Moore’s 18 points while Kaela Davis scored 15, and Wilson and Gray finished with 14.

South Carolina falls to 18-2 on the year and 8-1 in SEC play. Next up for the Gamecocks is a road game in Kentucky at 7 p.m. Thursday.


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