South Carolina earned a massive conference victory over No. 6 LSU on Saturday night in Baton Rouge. Junior guard Tessa Johnson and senior guard Raven Johnson provided crucial contributions on offense that aided the team's efforts down the stretch.
Saturday's matchup was the first top 10 road game of the season for the Gamecocks, having played then-No. 5 Vanderbilt and then-No. 4 Texas both at home earlier this month. The team also faced then-No. 8 USC and the Longhorns at neutral sites in the first few weeks of the season.
South Carolina was tested early when the Tigers escaped the first quarter with a 5-point lead. The Gamecocks shot 7-20 from the field in the game's first 10 minutes, with Tessa Johnson being the only player on the team to knock down more than one shot. Her 5 points led the team in the period.
Following a first quarter where Raven Johnson and Tessa Johnson accounted for 8 of the team's 16 points, that trend continued in the second quarter. The pair combined for a 19-point second quarter, with Raven Johnson's 8 points only being outdone by Tessa Johnson's 11. The guard duo went 5-8 (62.5%) from beyond the arc.
"(Tessa Johnson) was our offense, to be quite honest," head coach Dawn Staley said. "It's not on her fingers long before she's launching it, and we're very fortunate she was very efficient."
Raven Johnson added three rebounds and two assists in the quarter as well. South Carolina managed a 41-40 lead at halftime. Both Tessa Johnson (16) and Raven Johnson (11) were in double-figure scoring, having accounted for 66% of the team's points.
LSU senior guard Flau'jae Johnson carried the load for the Tigers' offense early, posting 14 points and four rebounds by the midway mark.
Sophomore forward Joyce Edwards was 1-4 from the field in the first quarter. Her two turnovers by halftime trailed only Tiger junior guard and former Gamecock MiLaysia Fulwiley (3) for the most by any player. Edwards had 4 points in 18 minutes at the break.
South Carolina's motor in the third quarter was fueled almost exclusively by senior center Madina Okot. In a period where very few shots fell, it was the Gamecocks' dominance in the paint that helped extend the lead entering the fourth quarter.
The team shot 7-18 from the field, barely edging LSU's rate of 5-16. Okot single-handedly out-rebounded the Tigers, grabbing nine rebounds compared to LSU's eight as a team in the quarter. South Carolina earned 6 second-chance points and earned a 14-8 scoring advantage in the paint.
Prior to the fourth quarter, LSU had attempted more free throws than South Carolina in each of the first three quarters to start the game. The Tigers entered the bonus with 5:48 left to play, but an inability to convert from the charity stripe handicapped the team's efforts to crawl back into the game.
The Gamecocks capitalized where the Tigers could not. South Carolina went 15-17 (88.2%) from the free-throw line in the game, including a perfect 8-8 in the fourth quarter.
Comparatively, LSU entered the final quarter 11-15 (73.3%) from the free-throw line. The team missed more free throws in the fourth quarter (5) than in the rest of the game combined (4). Most crucially, a pair of missed free throws by Flau'jae Johnson when down by 1 point with 45 seconds to play spoiled an opportunity for the Tigers to either tie the game or take the lead.
Following the two misses, Raven Johnson assisted on an Okot bucket that pushed the lead back to 3. In a display of difference in composure between the two teams, the pair each hit both of their two free throws to push the game out of reach in the final minute.
"Probably the biggest play of the game when Raven gave her the lob," Staley said.
Raven Johnson grabbed seven rebounds while dishing out a team-high six assists on the night, adding a team-high four steals on the other end. She was the only player with more than one assist, and one of two players with more than two rebounds.
"We put the ball in Raven Johnson's hands to make a play," Staley said.
She finished with a career-high 19 points, trailing only Tessa Johnson's 21 in the game. The two both shot better than 50% from the field and each made at least three 3-pointers.
Of the game's 40 minutes, Tessa Johnson played in 37 and Raven Johnson played in 36. Every other player in the game played fewer than 35 minutes.
"They had to," Staley said. "They're built for it ... they were exhausted, but they got us over the mountaintop."
With the win, South Carolina moved to 22-22 all-time against LSU. In the two programs' first 26 match-ups, the Tigers had captured victory in 22 of them. The Gamecocks have now won 18 consecutive matchups, improving Staley's record to 19-5 over the team all-time.
"Two of the best teams in our conference and in the country just trying to get a win," Staley said.
What's next?
South Carolina will head to Tuscaloosa this Thursday to take on No. 23 Alabama. The Gamecocks look to defeat the Crimson Tide for the second time this season, having earned an 83-57 win on Jan. 1. The game will tip off at 8:30 p.m. on the SEC Network.