Not allowing the thoughts of a potential No. 1 versus No. 2 showdown with Connecticut next week to creep into its mind, the South Carolina women’s basketball team (22-0, 10-0 SEC) defeated another ranked team, No. 22 Georgia (17-6, 5-5 SEC) 58-35 Thursday night in Athens, Georgia.
As it frequently has this season, South Carolina got contributions from a mixture of young talent and experienced veterans on the offensive front while holding Georgia to just 20.7 percent shooting in a defensive battle.
With the win, the Gamecocks extended their winning streak to 22 games, tying the school-record for the most consecutive victories to start off a season by any sport.
Coming off the bench, freshman point guard Bianca Cuevas continued her hot streak and paced the Gamecocks with nine points in the first half. The Bronx, New York native would finish with 16 and is averaging 18.5 points over the past two games.
Cuevas’ performance marked the third straight game that a Gamecock reserve led the team in scoring.
Junior shooting guard Tiffany Mitchell continued her stellar SEC campaign and added 14 points.
Meanwhile, Georgia struggled mightily and had a tough time establishing any sort of rhythm on offense. The Bulldogs scored only 14 points in the first half and ended the game with 17 turnovers.
Challenged by South Carolina’s size and strength within the paint, Georgia attempted to make an impact from the outside, but made just two of 19 three-point attempts.
South Carolina was also able to effectively dominate Georgia on the boards and outrebounded the Bulldogs by a 50-38 margin.
Gamecock senior forward Aleighsa Welch pulled down a game-high 14 rebounds.
The Gamecocks led by 16 at halftime and would not let up in the second half either, outscoring Georgia 28-21 over the final 20 minutes.
Freshman Georgia guard Haley Clark and freshman forward Mackenzie Engram each scored eight points for Georgia.
South Carolina was without sophomore center Alaina Coates, who did not play due to a violation of team rules.
Moving forward, all eyes will be on the Gamecocks’ matchup with No. 2 Connecticut.
Having won nine national championships since 1995, Connecticut has established itself as the premier women’s basketball program under head coach Geno Auriemma.
The Huskies’ lone loss this season came on the road against now ranked No. 12 Stanford in November.
It is unclear whether Coates will be available to play for the Gamecocks against Connecticut.