Led by Alaina Coates and A’ja Wilson, South Carolina was able to secure a convincing 66-45 route of Ole Miss late Thursday night.
This was South Carolina’s 27th win on the season (15th in league play), while the loss pushed the Rebels to 10 and 18 on the season, with only two wins in SEC play. With the win the Gamecocks are won step closer to their pursuit of perfection in SEC play, and one win away from topping last years 15 and one record in the league.
Wilson led the Gamecocks in scoring with a perfect 8-8 night from the field, though it was not a one-woman show. Both Coates and Tiffany Mitchell also scored in double figures, with Coates adding 14 rebounds to complete her double-double. It was a night when the Gamecocks didn’t seem capable of missing the basket, as they shot a tremendous 56 percent from the field, compared to Ole Miss shooting just 22 percent.
After a close first quarter that ended with South Carolina up by four, South Carolina was able to really open up the game in the second, due largely to their defense. The Gamecocks stifled the Rebels' offense, only giving up 5 points in the quarter. This tremendous defense was a major factor to them enter halftime with a 15-point lead.
Coming out of the half, Ole Miss was able to trim this lead down to nine midways through the third on some hot shooting from outside the arc, but that’s about as close as they would get it. South Carolina, lead by an all-around offensive effort, turned on the thrusters and jetted their way to victory.
One worrisome aspect of the game that the Gamecocks will need to address as they enter into post-season play are their turnovers. Tonight, they had 29. Against better teams, the Gamecocks could be exposed in a way that their dominating presence down low could not make up for. Luckily, they were able to cause Ole Miss to cough the ball up 23 times, negating their mistakes on the other end of the court. Though against teams such as Connecticut, causing enough turnovers to compensate for 29 of their own would be nearly impossible.
The Gamecocks close out their regular season this Sunday at home against LSU.