After a tough loss against unranked Missouri in its last outing, the South Carolina women’s basketball team scored a much-needed win against the Texas A&M Aggies 80-64 Thursday night.
With their win and Mississippi State’s overtime loss against Kentucky, the Gamecocks improved to 23-4 on the year and took the lead in the SEC with one game left to play.
The game looked tight to start, as South Carolina led 19-18 after the first quarter. Each team traded blows offensively, both hitting big shots to start the game.
Playing without senior All-American center Alaina Coates, because of an ankle injury, the Gamecocks came up big on both sides of the ball. After a one-point South Carolina lead to end the first quarter, the Gamecocks never looked back, outscoring the Aggies 39-29 in the second half. South Carolina finished the first half on a 10-2 run.
Junior Forward A’ja Wilson finished with a double-double of 21 points and 15 rebounds. Junior guard Bianca Cuevas-Moore finished with 16 points and six steals. Cuevas-Moore got the start due to Coates’ absence and shined, hitting two three-pointers in the game. Her speed and quickness helped South Carolina’s tempo throughout the game.
South Carolina dominated the paint offensively, scoring 54 of its 80 points in that area. The Gamecocks shot 50 percent from the floor as a team and created 15 turnovers. Their defensive presence was felt, as they generated 13 steals off the Aggies, and held them to just 64 points.
With the win, the Gamecocks keep their hopes of winning a third-straight SEC regular season title and a possible No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
South Carolina closes the 2017 regular season against No. 22-ranked Kentucky on Sunday at Colonial Life Arena. With a win, the Gamecocks clinch an SEC regular season title moving into March.