Freshman guard Destanni Henderson led the Gamecock women's basketball team to a 65-57 win over Georgia with 14 points, making four of her nine field goal attempts and six of her seven free throw tries in the tenth-straight victory over the Lady Bulldogs.
The next highest scoring player for the Gamecocks was senior guard Doniyah Cliney. She scored 12 points, including five field goals and two free throws. Both players missed all of their three-point attempts.
Neither Henderson nor Cliney were in the starting lineup, all of which pulled from the court after one foul by senior guard Bianca Cuevas-Moore, one turnover by junior guard Tyasha Harris and a 2-0 Georgia lead within the first 28 seconds of the game.
Head coach Dawn Staley said she was impressed with Henderson after the game for how she stepped into her role despite being a freshman.
“Destanni’s been playing pretty well for us. She’s fearless, she’s a great listener, she’s a pleaser,” Staley said. “So I’m not surprised by her play and her ability to impact the game. She’s getting better in areas where it takes a while for freshman to get.”
Despite being the team’s leading scorer and receiving praise from Staley, Henderson still believes that she is a long way from her best, she said. She is still learning how to become a better player as she is still not in the starting lineup.
“It’s a learning process for me,” Henderson said. “Just try to see from leadership and try to pick from other guards. So it’s really been a process and just trying to do what I do best but also learn too.”
Cliney said her experience as a senior helped her stay calm in her role. She knew to not let up regardless of how the game was going or who was on the court at any point.
“We worked on it in practice, just rotating in with different people. Coach Staley always tells us to stay ready," Cliney said. "We knew that our starting five wasn’t coming off right, so we had to come in and pick them up.”
Staley was proud of how Henderson and Cliney played, along with the rest of the backups, but reiterated the fact that the lineup for each game can be different, especially with a deep bench.
“I saw us give up a lot of offensive rebounds, I saw us give a lot of hustle plays,” Staley said. “I’m just through giving anybody, starters or anybody else, the benefit of the doubt. We have a job to do. You have to do your job. If you don’t do your job in the beginning, we can’t wait for you to warm up.”
The Gamecocks look to learn from Thursday’s win over Georgia as they advance in SEC play. On Feb. 17, they will travel to Gainesville, Florida, to take on the Florida Gators. Tipoff is set for 2 p.m., and can be streamed on SEC Network+.