The South Carolina women’s basketball team defeated Elon 79-38 on Friday afternoon at Colonial Life Arena.
After coming off a championship win against UCONN in the Bahamas, South Carolina looked to return home and keep its momentum going.
“Obviously it was a big game, it’s a big win for us,” head coach Dawn Staley said. “You’ll feel some residual, but we gotta keep moving and turn the page.”
After coming off of such an emotional high, the team came out a bit flat in the first half. The Gamecocks managed to build a solid lead, but once substitutions were made towards the end of the second quarter, Elon edged its way back in.
“We can’t get too high with the high or low with the lows,” junior guard Brea Beal said. “We’re in November and still have more to go.”
The team was able to lock in and deliver a strong second-half performance. Junior forward Aliyah Boston led the offense with 12 points, followed closely by junior guard Zia Cooke with 11 points and senior guard Destanni Henderson with 10 points.
Freshman guard Sania Feagin has been a great addition to the squad so far, having come into games and made the most of her minutes so far this season. She put up nine points, four rebounds and two assists against Elon.
“She’s slowly been getting better in practice,” Staley said. “She’s built confidence in herself and made a commitment to do the right thing, to be productive and she’s a product of what she’s been practicing.”
This victory added to South Carolina’s flawless record, putting the team at 7-0 on the season. With such early success, the group has tried to continue to build after each game. Something that has helped with this is spending time in the film room.
“When we watch film we are not going to just watch it for 20 minutes and call it a day,” Beal said. “Even if we beat a good team we’re still going to take that time and dissect it to see what we could’ve done better.”
The Gamecocks will return to Colonial Life Arena on Monday, Nov. 29 to face the North Carolina A&T Aggies.