The Daily Gamecock

Gamecocks rout Georgia to advance to SEC semifinal

For a few minutes, it looked like South Carolina may be in for a dogfight Friday, just like the two regular season matchups with Georgia this season. But quickly, the Gamecocks clamped down defensively and found a rhythm on offense, putting the game away by halftime en route to a 72-48 victory.

The tide turned when Bianca Cuevas-Moore came off the bench, sparking a 16-4 run in the final 6:49 of the first quarter. The junior guard ran the offense as soon as she came in the game, getting into the lane and finding A'ja Wilson for a bucket, giving Cuevas-Moore one of her five first-half assists. Cuevas-Moore had a pair of steals as well, leading the defensive effort that forced 11 turnovers in the first half, which led to 13 points for the Gamecocks.

"Wherever [Cuevas-Moore] is inserted into the game, she's always ready to play," Dawn Staley said after the win. "But today I thought, especially, she came into the game as a boost. She took it to another level by applying a lot of pressure on Haley Clark as well as facilitating and getting other people involved."

The 5-foot-6 guard wasn't doing the scoring though, as Wilson and Allisha Gray combined for 25 points in the first half alone. With Alaina Coates sitting out with an ankle injury, Wilson established the Gamecocks' presence inside, putting Georgia's starting frontcourt in early foul trouble as both Caliya Robinson and Mackenzie Engram had to sit after picking up two early fouls. The fouls put South Carolina at the line early, and the Gamecocks attempted 21 free throws just in the first half, making 16.

The Gamecocks were able to avoid fouling, but it wasn't at the cost of tough defense. Georgia shot just 28 percent for the game, and the Bulldogs padded the stats when the game was well out of hand in the fourth quarter. South Carolina even pulled out a full court press in the first half to force a couple extra turnovers.

The Gamecocks spread the wealth a bit more offensively with Coates out, scoring 19 points, 11 of which came from Doniyah Cliney, setting a new career-high. Mikiah Herbert Harrigan got her second start of the season, and the freshman scored five points while grabbing a career-high 10 rebounds.

The Gamecocks advance to the SEC semifinals for the fourth straight year, and they'll take on Kentucky Saturday. Tip off is scheduled for 5 p.m.


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