 "Photo: Chris Keohane/The Daily Gamecock")
CLEMSON — In its second straight overtime game, the South Carolina women’s basketball team lost a heartbreaker to archrival Clemson Tigers 94-92. Freshman center Kelsey Bone had another double-double, leading all scorers with 32 points and 14 rebounds.
The Tigers got off to a hot shooting start to begin the game, but the Gamecocks hung in there, keeping the contest close with Bone’s stellar inside play. Clemson was not allowing many outside looks, so USC looked to Bone for the bulk of the scoring. In the first half she had 12 points, with most of her baskets coming on terrific low-post moves and hook shots to the hoop.
It was a back-and-forth contest in the first 20 minutes, with neither team taking control. Clemson began with the lead, but USC kept it close. The Tigers relinquished their lead once when junior guard Samone Kennedy nailed a three-pointer from the wing. But the Tigers immediately regained control of the game and led 41-37 at the half.
The Gamecocks got off to slow start in the second half. USC combined to score four points in the first eight minutes of the period. After a much-needed timeout, the shots started to fall for the Gamecocks. The turning point for USC was when junior guard Valerie Nainima made a reverse layup in the defender’s face, which cut into the Tiger lead.
At the four-minute mark, Kennedy nailed a long three to take the lead, then Bone immediately blocked a Tiger shot straight to sophomore La’Keisha Sutton for an easy layup. The Tigers kept it close and tied the game with 40 seconds left in regulation. USC could not counter, and the game went into overtime.
In the first overtime period, Clemson managed to get its lead up to six, but USC and Bone fought back. Nainima dropped a three-pointer to give the Tigers only a one-point lead. After the Tigers made a free throw, Bone did her best Kareem Abdul-Jabbar impression and dropped a hook shot with three seconds left to send the game into second overtime.
Baskets were traded back and forth again in the next overtime period, as USC kept going back to Bone in the low post until she fouled out the game on a Tiger three-point attempt to seal the Clemson win with 14 seconds left.
“[Bone] was pretty good. I give her props,” Clemson center Shaniqua Pauldo said. “I recognized that she was tired in overtime and kept telling the guards to give me the ball inside.”
The Gamecocks return to action in their home opener Sunday at 3 p.m. at the Colonial Life Arena against Penn State.
The Lady Nittany Lions will come into Columbia riding high at 3-0. This is the fourth straight season the Lions have opened a year with three wins. Penn State thrashed in-state rival Bucknell 77-62 last night, with four players scoring in double figures.
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