Bruner, Walker lead USC after Senior Day ceremony
Forward Ashley Bruner and guard Ieasia Walker made Senior Day their own Sunday afternoon.
After a pregame ceremony that honored their four years playing basketball at South Carolina, the seniors led USC to a 67-56 win over Florida in the final game of the regular season.
With the victory, South Carolina (23-6, 11-5 SEC) set a program record in conference wins.
“We want to progress each and every year, and we want to show that progression through not only our players getting better and maturing into good people but also in wins,” coach Dawn Staley said. “People need something tangible.”
Both teams struggled to run their offense in the first half, with the score tied at 25 at halftime. Walker had 14 of South Carolina’s points, shooting 5-for-8 from the field. The rest of the team made five of 20 field-goal attempts.
Staley said she could tell from the pregame shootaround that Walker would have a good game, and the senior said she owed it to her family after they drove 13 hours to watch her play.
“I don’t think she was going to let us lose this basketball game,” Staley said.
The coach added that the team’s pace was too quick at the beginning of the game, possibly because of the emotion of the pregame ceremony. But Walker said the ceremony was more emotional for the coaches than for the players, who “kept it together pretty well.”
Bruner exemplified the team’s first-half struggles, finishing the first half with two points. She made one of her seven shots from the field and missed all three free-throw attempts. At halftime, Staley told her to take her time with her post move.
“I really thought I was rushing because of how [the Gators] were playing me,” Bruner said. “I came out in the second half a little more focused on how to score.”
The Gamecocks started the second half scoring six unanswered points. After Bruner made two straight jumpers and Walker followed with a layup, Florida called a timeout. The Gators (17-13, 6-10) climbed within two points with 8:30 to play, but seven straight points by South Carolina put the game out of reach for good. Bruner had 14 points in the second half.
Senior guard Sancheon White, who was also honored in the pregame ceremony, scored three. White, who transferred to USC from Central Arizona College before her junior year, started every game and averaged 4.6 points and 4 rebounds.
South Carolina has the No. 5 seed in this week’s SEC tournament, but its first-round opponent has not been determined yet.
Bruner and Walker have contributed to 80 South Carolina victories in their four years with the team, making them the winningest senior class since the 1991–92 graduating class, which finished with 82 wins.
“We’re trying to leave a legacy,” Walker said. “This is our last game here. To keep doing better each year, it shows that we’re doing something right and we’re starting to buy into the process that Coach Staley has put in.”