Newton's 16 points spark South Carolina to defeat of Lady Bulldogs
However, her moment was short-lived. South Carolina's Courtney Newton drilled a 3-pointer on the following possession to give the Gamecocks their final lead of the game.
The sequence mirrored the story of the game, as Georgia's effort just wasn't enough to stop Newton from having a career-defining game to propel USC to a 57-48 upset victory over No. 20 Georgia.
And while this marks Newton's fourth-straight game as a starter, her road to the game-high, 16-point effort wasn't the easiest.
"I'm really happy for her because she's worked. She's worked her tail off after having a whole bunch of surgeries," coach Dawn Staley said. "You want her to be able to see her work in the form of something tangible."
And while Newton, who has undergone surgical procedures on her knee since arriving at USC, has been a steady contributor on the defensive side of the ball, she entered the contest only averaging 0.8 points per game.
"It's kind of funny because today coach Staley asked me, 'You know why you're starting as a guard?' and I said, 'To play defense and box out.' She said, 'You're exactly right,'" Newton said. "I knew what my role was coming in — getting extra possessions and such — but I also know that I can shoot the ball, so when I got the opportunity, I knew I needed to be ready to shoot the ball as well."
The Lady Bulldogs entered the Colonial Life Arena with a perfect 5-0 record in the arena, with a 30-5 series record over USC. Furthermore, the Bulldogs were riding a seven-game win streak, going unbeaten in the SEC until this point.
Before the Tennessee game, Staley was not shy in saying the Gamecocks had not had a signature win since she took over as head coach. With the win over Georgia marking the first win over a ranked opponent this season, Staley considers the win a significant one.
As for Georgia, the game was an uncharacteristic one, and coach Andy Landers had overlooked Newton as a factor in the game.
"We didn't consider [Newton] an unlikely source," Landers said. "What's difficult is when a team gets over 25 percent of their points off five shots by the same person. In fairness, defensively, we should have affected three of those — I would call those breakdowns."
Georgia only trailed by two at the halfway mark, but USC was able to pull away from a two-point game after two missed free throws by Ashley Bruner with Newton's final 3-pointer of the night to make the score 46-41. Bruner finished with 10 points and seven rebounds for the Gamecocks.
After falling down in the closing seconds of the game during a free throw by USC, Newton received a standing ovation from the crowd; she had scored more points in one game than she had all season.
"I think as a player here you work hard, you want to be on the court and you want to help you team win," Newton said. "With all my injuries, I just kept working hard, and as a player, you want to contribute to a win — I'm just glad I got to do that for my team."