No. 3 South Carolina women's basketball added another conference victory Thursday night, defeating Auburn by a score of 81-51 on the road. Every Gamecock notched a basket in the win that pushed the Gamecocks to sole possession of first place in the SEC.
Sophomore forward Joyce Edwards got the Gamecocks going with the first score of the game after the two teams traded unsuccessful possessions to begin the game. Auburn freshman guard Harissoum Coulibaly answered with a midrange of her own to tie the game at 2.
Auburn’s offensive success was short-lived, however. At the 6:18 mark of the first quarter, the Tigers took a timeout after South Carolina emerged with a 12-2 lead. Edwards was hot, grabbing three rebounds and scoring 6 points in less than four minutes.
Sophomore guard Maddy McDaniel was the Gamecocks' first player off the bench and she made an immediate impact, scoring off her own steal on the first possession following the timeout.
Auburn had made one of its last ten shots before finally hitting a 3-pointer to end a near-five-minute scoring drought. The Tigers would score 5 points to come within single digits, trailing 16-7.
Junior guard Tessa Johnson’s first triple of the game ended the Tigers' brief scoring run. McDaniel notched her third steal of the first quarter, then finished for a score on the other. She had 4 points in the quarter.
Leading 25-10 after the first, the Gamecocks shot 68.8% (11-16) from the field in the quarter, more than tripling the success rate of the Tigers at 22.2% (4-18). South Carolina out-rebounded Auburn 14-5 and outscored the Tigers in the paint 16-2.
A quick score by Coulibaly off a Gamecock turnover kicked off the second quarter. McDaniel answered with a pair of free throws at the other end, and a tough and-one by Edwards put her at an early 9 points on 80% shooting.
After opening the quarter with a score, Auburn wouldn’t make another field goal for 5:43. The team missed seven straight shots and turned the ball over five times before scoring after a media timeout.
Both Johnson and McDaniel would knock down triples to end the first half. McDaniel was up to 9 points on 100% shooting, along with two assists, two rebounds and three steals.
South Carolina shot 28.6% (4-14) in the second quarter, bringing its total down to 50% (15-30) in the first half. Auburn shot 16.7% (2-12) in the quarter and 20% (6-30) in the half.
The Tigers had caught up in rebounds, trailing 22-17 in total boards at the midway mark. The Gamecocks still had the scoring advantage in the paint, however, leading 18-6.
Edwards and McDaniel led South Carolina with 9 points each.
The first possession of the second half ended in a block by senior center Madina Okot, but across the first three minutes of the second half, Auburn outscored South Carolina 6-5. That was until Johnson drained a contested 3-pointer, her third make from beyond the arc in the game .
Edwards followed with buckets of her own on three consecutive possessions for the Gamecocks. She had 17 points with over 15 minutes left in the game.
On the final possession of the third, McDaniel earned her fourth steal on the night and solidified a 30-point Gamecock lead entering the fourth, up 61-31.
Auburn earned its best stretch of the game in the fourth quarter when it went on an 8-0 run, hitting four of its last five shots and forcing four Gamecock turnovers in just over two minutes of play.
A converted and-one by Edwards pushed her point total to 20 on the day and ended the Tigers' late surge. South Carolina scored 20 total points in the fourth, as did Auburn. By the final buzzer, every Gamecock who saw the court scored at least once.
McDaniel and freshman guard Ayla McDowell combined for 17 points and four rebounds off the bench. McDaniel led the team with six assists and four steals.
Thursday’s win pushed the Gamecocks over .500 on the road against Auburn as a program, entering the game with a 12-12 record. South Carolina has now won eight-straight at Auburn and 17-straight overall.
What's next?
South Carolina (21-2, 7-1 SEC) will travel to College Station, Texas, to take on Texas A&M (8-9, 1-7 SEC) on Monday at 8:00 p.m. The game will be broadcast on ESPN2 as the Gamecocks look to hold on to the top spot in the SEC.