No. 2 South Carolina stays undefeated with a 83-66 win on Wednesday afternoon in the Players Era Championship at Michelob Ultra Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Duke started the game hot with senior guard Taina Mair and sophomore forward Toby Fournier combining for nine first-quarter points. Mair and Fournier's quickness and aggression on offense caused problems for the Gamecock defense, and Duke took a 15-7 advantage with two minutes and 50 seconds left in the first quarter.
South Carolina's offense, after being restricted by a Blue Devil team determined to protect the paint, mounted a comeback late in the first quarter due to senior guard Raven Johnson's determination. She scored five points and assisted a fast break basket from senior center Madina Okot to cut the lead to 15-14 by the first quarter's end.
A three from redshirt freshman center Arianna Roberson opened up the second quarter for Duke, and redshirt sophomore guard Riley Nelson generated offense with five points to try and maintain Duke's lead, but Okot's nine points in eight second-quarter minutes turned the tide for South Carolina.
One of her baskets gave South Carolina its first lead of the game, and she then scored the next two to expand South Carolina's lead to 27-23 after five and a half minutes of the second quarter.
Duke was still in the game, though, until its six second-quarter turnovers were its undoing; South Carolina took advantage of it to generate quick offense, scoring 13 fast break points in the first half. Fast breaks off of turnovers fueled a key 11-0 run for the Gamecocks in the last two minutes and 40 seconds of the half, accounting for five of those points. In this run, the lead went from 29-27 to the halftime score of 40-27.
Other key factors to South Carolina taking control of the first half were its aggression at the rim and on the glass, with 28 paint points, 11 offensive rebounds, and 10 second-chance points.
In the third quarter, each team was able to get to its offense, resulting in trading baskets as Duke tried to make a comeback. After Okot and senior guard Ta'Niya Latson's early baskets expanded the lead to 19, Fournier and Nelson were key players for the Blue Devils, with 14 points between them.
Duke also out-hustled the Gamecocks on the glass, with six offensive rebounds to two for South Carolina in the third quarter. The Blue Devils scored three 3-pointers to try and keep up with sophomore forward Joyce Edwards and Okot's 16 third-quarter points.
Duke reduced South Carolina's lead to single digits five times before a Latson layup ended the quarter at 61-51 in favor of the Gamecocks.
In the fourth quarter, Fournier stayed aggressive, drawing four free throws and making three, and senior guard Ashlon Jackson, after starting the game 1-10, scored seven points on 3-5 shooting in the fourth quarter. They combined to bring the lead to single digits for a final time with six minutes left in the game, 67-58.
Then a key steal and basket from Gamecock junior guard Tessa Johnson, Okot driving layup, and an Edwards full-court pass to Latson extended the lead to make the score 73-60 in favor of the Gamecocks.
Edwards' scoring is one of the strengths of her game, and she was second on the team in scoring with 22 points on the day, but her passing was also on display with 6 assists, three of which were in the fourth quarter.
Fournier made a free throw to make it 73-61, but an Edwards and-1 basket and a Tessa Johnson three made the score 79-61 with two minutes and 11 seconds left in the game.
Those six points put the game out of reach for Duke, and Gamecock head coach Dawn Staley took out a number of the starters. Sophomores Adhel Tac and Maddy McDaniel scored the last four points for South Carolina to bring the Gamecock lead to 20, 83-63.
After a 5-point first half, Mair had two threes made for six second-half points. One of those threes, made with five seconds left, gave Duke its final points of the game to reach the final score, 83-66.
What's next?
No. 2 South Carolina play against SEC rival No. 4 Texas in the Players Era Championship game in Las Vegas, Nevada, Thursday at 8 p.m. The game is available to watch on truTV.