In a sloppy defensive battle, the South Carolina women’s basketball team overcame 21 turnovers to beat Mississippi State 57-51. The win moves the Gamecocks to 19-0 on the season, and the Bulldogs are the seventh ranked opponent to fall to Coach Dawn Staley’s club this season.
Senior guard Tiffany Mitchell paced the South Carolina scoring attack with 21 points, including nine in the fourth quarter alone. Fellow senior guard Tina Roy displayed her ability from long range, making three of four attempts from beyond the arc, including an awkward bank shot to close out the first half, to finish with 11 points off the bench.
Sophomore forward A’ja Wilson came back to earth after back-to-back phenomenal performances, as last week’s SEC Player of the Week posted just six points on 3-11 shooting. The team struggled from the free throw line yet again, making 15 of 23 attempts from the charity stripe, while the Bulldogs missed just one of their 17 free throws.
The Gamecocks pressured the SEC’s leading scorer Victoria Vivians, who averaged 17.6 points per game coming into the contest, into taking contested shots. Vivians came up with 19 points, but it took her 25 shots to do so, and the South Carolina defense kept any other Bulldogs from making significant contributions.
Wilson and junior center Alaina Coates continued their dominance in the post, combining for 22 rebounds and six blocks, helping the Gamecocks out-rebound Mississippi State 40-31. The duo may have had off nights on the offensive end, but at 6'5" and 6'4" respectively, Wilson and Coates made life difficult for the Bulldogs in the paint.
The game was highly competitive throughout, but South Carolina claimed the decisive lead with a 7-0 run with just under eight minutes to go in the final period. Roy was the driving force, assisting two layups by Coates before hitting a three to put the Gamecocks up 42-35. The Bulldogs would cut the lead all the way down to one, but Mitchell and senior guard Khadijah Sessions combined for 13 of the team’s final 15 points to put the game away.
South Carolina’s schedule should certainly have them ready for postseason play, as the Gamecocks have now defeated four top 10 teams away from Colonial Life Arena. The tests continue to pile up for the Gamecocks, with five of the next six games coming against ranked opponents, including Connecticut, the nation’s top team.
The Gamecocks will now travel home to take on 10-9 Ole Miss on Thursday night at Colonial Life Arena. Staley will look to move her team to 20-0 for the second straight year as South Carolina races towards last year’s 22-game streak to open the season.