Sessions' Late Free Throw Allows South Carolina to Survive Texas A&M

After a heavy morning rain, the clouds subsided and the sun came out in Columbia, South Carolina on Sunday, just in time for the Gamecocks to face the #15 Aggies of Texas A&M,  It was the third game of an eleven game gauntlet for South Carolina where they face nine ranked teams over the span, including finishing up with five ranked teams in a row.

Sun, Jan 10 - 83-58 win over #20 Missouri

Thu, Jan 14 - 73-62 win at #9 Kentucky

Sun, Jan 17 vs #15 Texas A&M

Thu, Jan 21 @ Auburn

Sun, Jan 24 @ #7 Mississippi State

Thu, Jan 28 vs Ole Miss

Sun, Jan 31 @ #15 Texas A&M

Thu, Feb 4 vs #9 Kentucky

Mon, Feb 8 vs #1 Connecticut

Thu, Feb 11 vs #20 Florida

Mon, Feb 15 @ #13 Tennessee

That's not a schedule for the faint of heart. The crowd of 15,406 that packed Colonial Life Arena for the 12:30 PM EST was ready for the third game in this brutal stretch of games for the #2 Gamecocks. So were the #15 Aggies.

Before the game started, South Carolina Junior Center Alaina Coates was awarded a ball for scoring her 1000th career point in the home win over Missouri a week ago.  Coates had a double double in the win over the Tigers.

Texas A&M, similar to #20 Missouri when they played the South Carolina, came out physical against the Gamecocks.  However, unlike the Tigers, the Aggies matched their physicality with athleticism and hot shooting.  Behind guard Courtney Walker's hot shooting, Texas A&M jumped out to a quick 13-6 lead.  

But South Carolina responded with a 10-0 run over the next five plus minutes. Tiffany Mitchell had four points and an assist during that spurt, which was capped by a Coates layup to put the Gamecocks up 16-13.  But Texas A&M responded with the last four points of the quarter to take a 17-16 lead. 

In the second quarter, the teams traded leads six times over the ten minute period.  After A'ja Wilson gave South Carolina a 26-25 lead, Wilson followed up with a block of a Courtney Williams layup attempt on the other end.  It appeared that the Gamecocks would run down the clock for the last shot in the second quarter, but Khadijah Sessions dribbled into traffic and Walker stole the ball and went the length of the court, laying the ball in before the buzzer sounded.  Texas A&M was up 27-26 at the half.

It was clearly a test of wills in the first half as Texas A&M collapsed on the South Carolina bigs, Wilson and Coates.  But Coach Dawn Staley continued to have the Gamecocks work the ball inside, knowing the high percentage shot is usually the best shot.  

So while the Aggies were able to bottle up Coates the whole game, Wilson became their go to player. That's due in part that the six foot four Wilson is so athletic, she can take the ball from the free throw line and drive to the basket.  She scored the Gamecocks last eight points in the first half.  And the game plan didn't change at the start of the second half as Wilson scored the first six points for the Gamecocks.   Her layup put South Carolina up 32-29.    Coates followed with a layup of her own and the score was 34-29.

But Texas A&M once again was resilient, as they responded with an 8-0 spurt.  Jordan Jones was responsible for six of those points, a three pointer and an old fashioned three point play, which gave the Aggies a 36-34 lead.  Chelsea Jennings capped the run with a layup and the Aggies led 38-34.  But Sessions responded with a layup of her own to cut the deficit to two to end the third quarter.

Sessions' layup would be the start of a 9-2 run for the Gamecocks.  Wilson and Mitchell would each hit two free throws and then Bianca Cuevas buried a three pointer to put South Carolina up 43-40.  A few minutes later, a Sessions layup would extend the lead to four, 46-42.   However, Jordan Jones would nail a three pointer and follow with a layup to put A&M back in front 47-46 with a little over six minutes left in the game.

But once again, the Gamecocks responded with another 9-2 spurt.  It started with a Cuevas three point play and ended with Wilson scoring the last three points on a layup, then later by hitting one of two free throws.  Colonial Life Arena was rocking as South Carolina went up 55-49 with two and a half minutes left in the game.

The Aggies would not quit, cutting the lead to two, 55-53 with Anriel Howard and Walker assisting each other on baskets.  However Wilson would respond with a layup and one.  She missed the free throw though and the Gamecocks were back up four 57-53 with 1:14 left in the game.

South Carolina would have chances to put the game away.  But Mitchell turned the ball over with about 30 seconds left in the game.  Walker would hit two free throws after on foul on Sessions to cut the deficit to two, 57-55 with twenty seconds left.  

After getting fouled, Mitchell had a chance to possibly put the game away but missed both free throw attempts.   A&M had a chance to tie with four seconds left but Jones missed a free throw of her own.  Jones hit the second and the score was 57-56.  The Aggies fouled Sessions, who missed the first free throw but hit the second to put the Gamecocks up two, 58-56 with three seconds left.  We now had the setup for one of the wildest endings to any basketball game this season.

Off the inbounds pass, the Aggies' Taylor Cooper was able to find Jennings on an outlet pass and she was able to lay the ball in to tie the game at 58 with one second.  But with the game tied, on the South Carolina inbounds pass Texas A&M's Shlonte Allen, who was seeing her first minutes of the game, inexplicably grabbed Sessions as she was trying to drive down the court.   Allen was called for the foul, and lucky for A&M's head coach Gary Blair, Allen wasn't called for an intentional foul, as she made no attempt to go after the ball.   The brain freeze on Allen resulted in two free throw attempts for Sessions to win the game with .8 seconds left.

However, Sessions added to the excitement of the finish by missing the first free throw.  With the crowd imploring her, Sessions hit the second free throw to put South Carolina up 59-58.  Mitchell would then steal the desperation inbounds pass at mid court and the Gamecocks held on for a truly exciting 59-58 victory.

Wilson was dominant the entire game for the Gamecocks and nearly had a triple double with twenty six points, eight rebounds and eight blocks.  Mitchell was the only other South Carolina player in double figures scoring with eleven points.  Cuevas had nine points, Sessions added eight and Coates was held to five points, though she had eleven rebounds.

The three guard attack for Texas A&M - Jones, Walker and Jennings each scored in double figures and combined for forty seven of the Aggies' fifty eight points.  The Aggies actually out-rebounded the Gamecocks 43-33, which included seventeen offensive rebounds.

The Gamecocks survived the third game of their gauntlet and now go on the road to face Auburn, a pretty respectable 12-6 team with a 2-3 conference record.  One of those wins was earlier in the conference season over #7 Kentucky.  

Such is the life in the SEC.  Even the unranked teams are pretty darn good.

South Carolina's Strong Defensive Start Dooms Missouri

The #20 Missouri Tigers had to be telling themselves yesterday, "If we can come out strong against South Carolina, we've got a chance to win."   In the Gamecocks last several games, especially against SEC conference foes Arkansas and Vanderbilt, #2 South Carolina struggled out of the gate.  Against the Razorbacks, the Gamecocks were tied at nine after one quarter.  Against the Commodores, the Gamecocks were tied at halftime and were losing late in the third quarter before rallying to win.

So it only seemed natural for the Tigers to feel a strong start would go a long way.  During warm-ups, my color analyst, aka my older son Matthew, noted that Missouri seemed to have a lot of players practicing, more than South Carolina (two bench players have the left the Gamecocks in the last week, leaving them with eleven players, still plenty given their talent).   Matthew and I would find out within a few minutes of game action why that was the case.

As for the Tigers hoping for a sluggish start from their opponent, too bad Dawn Staley had her Gamecocks ready from the get go.

The home crowd of 15,934 that packed Colonial Life Arena yesterday seemed to pump life into South Carolina from tip-off.   The Gamecocks height and athleticism on defense frustrated the Tigers immediately in the first quarter.  In the first seven and a half minutes of the first quarter, Missouri missed all thirteen shots from the field and turned the ball over four times.

Meanwhile, it was obvious what Missouri's game plan was on defense.  Physical defense that would have made Bruiser Flint proud.  They picked up seven fouls in the first five and half plus minutes in the game.  My color analyst, aka my older son Matthew, commented that we were going to see at least one Missouri player foul out and noted "So that's why they have so many players!"

Meanwhile, South Carolina was able to slog their way through Missouri's physical play to score enough points to make a difference early on.  Alaina Coates hit a three point play to put the Gamecocks up to stay 3-0.  Neither team would score for the next three plus minutes as the Gamecocks missed on five straight shots. Finally,  Khadijah Sessions would score on four free throws, sandwiching a three point play by Tiffany Mitchell and a free throw from Alaina Coates.  South Carolina was up 11-0 with four plus minutes left in the first quarter.

During this time, Missouri Freshman Sophie Cunningham "enamored" herself with the Gamecocks fans due to her physical play, especially one fan behind us in Section 115.  That fan kept yelling at the top of her lungs "SOOOPHIE!", among other things.

Missouri finally made a basket from Kayla Robinson nearly eight minutes into the first quarter. At the end of the first quarter, the score was 17-5.

The Tigers came out scoring in the second quarter with five quick points, including a three pointer by Maddie Stock to cut the lead to ten, 20-10.   But the Gamecocks would respond with a 13-2 run over the next nearly five minutes. Mitchell would lead the way, scoring six of those thirteen points.  Her two free throws would cap the run and make the score 33-12.   South Carolina would end up leading at halftime 35-17.  Missouri almost had as many fouls, SIXTEEN, as points, seventeen.

The start of the second half saw Missouri come out strong from the locker room.   The Tigers outscored the Gamecocks 12-4 over the first minute and a half.  Sophie Cunningham continued to ingratiate herself with the Gamecock faithful, scoring a basket to cut the lead to ten 39-29.

After a Coates basket that put South Carolina up twelve, Mitchell took over from there.  She scored the next seven straight points; a layup assisted by Tina Roy, a three pointer again assisted by Roy and then finally, she took matters in her own hands.  Mitchell stole the ball and drove in for a layup.  The Gamecocks were back up nineteen 48-29 and the game was over for all intensive purposes.

Except for the fan that was "enamored" with Sophie Cunningham.  Sophie would pick up her third foul midway through the third quarter, which ended with South Carolina up 56-34.  In the fourth quarter, she would quickly pick up fouls four and five which resulted in our fan yelling "BYE SOPHIE!!"

As Matt had predicted, a Missouri player fouled out.  In fact, two fouled out, as Jordan Frericks fouled out later.  Missouri would use THIRTEEN players in the game, as the entire team picked up thirty four fouls.  South Carolina took full advantage, hitting on thirty two of their forty three free throw attempts in the 83-58 drubbing of Missouri.

Mitchell led all scorers with nineteen points, shooting eight of nine from the free throw line. Coates and Wilson each had double doubles.  Coates had thirteen points and twelve rebounds, while Wilson had eleven points, eleven rebounds and six blocks.  Jatarie White came off the bench for the Gamecocks and added eleven points.
Missouri was held to thirty one percent from the field, including four of twenty one from beyond the arc, as South Carolina's overall team height and quickness were too much for the Tigers.  Only Ciera Porter was in double figures scoring for Missouri with ten points.

With the win, the Gamecocks are now 15-0 on the season and have matched the #22 undefeated men's team in record.   Both teams are now a combined 30-0 on the season, a truly remarkable fact given conference play for men's and women's basketball is already a week old.

The schedule doesn't get any easier for South Carolina.  They play another two ranked teams in a row.  First, a road match-up with #10 Kentucky and then a home game vs. #13 Texas A&M.  

But if they come out and play defense as well as they did against #20 Missouri, it won't matter who they play. The Gamecocks look primed for another SEC conference championship.

A strong start always helps.

Roy Drives The Gamecock Truck that Runs over Arkansas

South Carolina entered its SEC conference opener against Arkansas on Sunday ranked #2 and undefeated at 12-0.  Combined with the men's basketball team's 13-0 start and Columbia, South Carolina was home to the best combined women's and men's college basketball teams' record in the country at 25-0.  This was not lost on the 13,407 fans in attendance at Colonial Life Arena, which was pretty much the same size crowd for the men's win over Memphis the day prior.

While Dawn Staley's Gamecocks entered Sunday's contest humming along, the Razorbacks seemingly have found themselves having won their last two contests.  Before that though, Arkansas had lost eight of their eleven non conference games.  Of all the SEC teams, only LSU also had a losing record entering Sunday.

Jimmy Dykes is in his second season of head coaching Arkansas.   Dykes came to the Razorbacks from a college basketball analyst position with ESPN and the Arkansas job was his first ever women's basketball coaching position.  But prior to his solid work at ESPN (he was one of my favorite college basketball analysts along with Mark Adams),  Dykes had a long history of being an assistant coach under several different men's basketball college programs, including three times under Eddie Sutton, his former coach at Arkansas.  He even was a scout in the NBA for three years before joining ESPN.

In his first season, Dykes took the Razorbacks to just their second NCAA Tournament in eleven seasons and even won their first round game over Northwestern.  He brought in the #20 recruiting class in the country for his second season.  But his young team struggled in a tough non conference schedule and entered the game with a 5-8 record. 

As has been the case often with the Gamecocks this season, South Carolina started out slow and struggled from the field, missing on ten of their first twelve field goal attempts.  Tina Roy had several open looks early on from the outside but couldn't knock them down.  Her effort would be rewarded later though.

Arkansas worked hard on both ends of the court, especially defensively and actually had the lead at 9-7 before Khadijah Sessions tied the game with a layup. The Razorbacks actually made four of their first nine field goal attempts.  The first quarter ended in a nine all tie.

From there, everything went downhill for Dykes and the Razorbacks.  Downhill real fast.

The Gamecocks started the second quarter with nine straight points.  Tiffany Mitchell buried a three pointer, then Roy followed with one of her own.  After South Carolina forced a shot clock violation on Arkansas, Roy buried her second three pointer and just like that the score was 18-9 South Carolina.

Arkansas would get a three pointer of their own by Jordan Danberry to cut the lead to six, 18-12.  That was as close as Arkansas would get the rest of the way.

The Gamecocks would score the next eleven points as Alaina Coates and A'ja Wilson would combine for eight of those points and Mitchell would add her second three pointer of the game.  South Carolina was now up 29-12 with 4:15 left in the quarter.

The Razorbacks best player, Jessica Jackson, ended the Gamecocks run with her second basket of the game to make the score 29-14.  Jackson would only score two more baskets the rest of the way.  Arkansas would score another basket on a Devin Gosper jumper, to cut the score to thirteen, 29-16.

From there, the Gamecocks would go on another run, this time a 15-2 spurt over the last three plus minutes of the second quarter.  South Carolina's reserve dynamo, Bianca Cuevas, led the spurt with eight points including knocking down a three to end the half with the Gamecocks up 44-18.

At the half, my friend and fellow Mid Majority 800 Games recap writer, Ian McCormick, joined me at my season tickets seats since my older son Matthew decided to stay at home.  Matt missed one heck of a second half start for the Gamecocks.

At the start of the second half, South Carolina picked up right where they left off, scoring the first sixteen points of the third quarter.  The Gamecocks hit on six of their first seven shots, including four three pointers, one by Sessions, and three by Roy.   Roy's fifth three pointer of the game gave South Carolina a 60-18 lead.

After Keiryn Swenson briefly ended the Gamecocks run with a basket, Roy responded with her sixth three pointer of the day, giving South Carolina a truly commanding 63-20 lead.  Dawn Staley was so impressed, she had to call timeout, perhaps to give her shooters a breather.

The timeout didn't cool off Roy.  She would nail her seventh three pointer later to cap the Gamecocks scoring for the third quarter.  After three quarters, South Carolina was up 73-25.

In the last ten minutes of the game, South Carolina made a concerted effort to get the ball to Coates and Wilson, who made the most of their scoring opportunities.  They combined to score nine of the Gamecocks twelve fourth quarter points.   South Carolina would again hold Arkansas under ten points for the fourth straight quarter, winning the game 85-32.  Now both South Carolina basketball teams were 13-0 on the season.

The Gamecocks had five players in double figures scoring and nearly a sixth with Sarah Imovbioh chipping in nine points.  Roy led all scorers with twenty one points, all on three pointers.  Wilson and Coates each notched double doubles.  Wilson had fourteen points and ten rebounds while Coates had eleven points and ten rebounds. Mitchell had twelve points and Cuevas added ten points.

Despite the wretched start, the Gamecocks shot fifty two percent from the field and forty seven percent from beyond the arc (11 of 23).  They had fifteen offensive rebounds and eighteen assists.   They held the Razorbacks to twenty four percent from the field and Arkansas only hit on one of their twelve three point attempts.  No player on the Razorbacks scored in double figures.  Jackson had nine points and Melissa Wolff had nine for Arkansas.  South Carolina forced eighteen Arkansas turnovers.  The only negative stat for the Gamecocks was that they were 8 of 13 from the charity stripe.  

Afterwards, Jimmy Dykes had to feel that his team was run over by a tractor trailer truck.  If he wanted to know the license plate number, it was South Carolina 23.

That's the jersey worn by Tina Roy.

Despite Offensive Struggles, Gamecocks Pull Away From Pirates

In the ten years that I have been covering college basketball, I find that final scores, whether in men's or women's college basketball, are often deceiving.  Such is the case with last night's 86-48 win by South Carolina over Hampton in women's college basketball action at Colonial Life Arena.

Coming off a very impressive 86-37 win over Winthrop on Sunday, which included the Gamecocks leading at the half 47-13 over an Eagles team with a similar record at 2-7, you would think they would not have much trouble with a 1-7 Pirates team that lost five of its seven games by twenty one points or more.

But that's why the game is played and not left to statistical programs.

After an awards ceremony for Coach Dawn Staley, A'ja Wilson, who was sitting again due to nagging injuries, Alaina Coates and Tiffany Mitchell for their play for USA National Teams in the offseason. the Gamecocks started the game out scoring six of their first eight points on free throws, including four by Mitchell, and took an 8-0 lead.   It took the Pirates about four minutes and ten seconds into the first quarter before Malia Tate-DeFreitas hit a basket to make the score 8-2.   South Carolina would answer back scoring six of the next eight points to take a 14-4 lead with about three and a half minutes left in the quarter.  It looked like Hampton would suffer a similar fate to Winthrop, who was outscored 26-7 in the first quarter on Sunday.

Then a funny thing happened.   Hampton showed why they made the second round of the Women's NIT last season, using quickness to create extra possessions for them.  The Pirates would force three Gamecocks turnovers and score the next five points to cut the deficit to 14-9, holding South Carolina scoreless the rest of the quarter.

The Gamecocks seemed frustrated on offense.  Seemingly easy layups just went off the rim,  In one first half possession, the Gamecocks fired two consecutive jumpers off the backboard never hitting a rim.  Even a three point attempt from the corner hit the side of the backboard.  Staley was none too pleased with her offense in the first half of the game.

The second quarter saw the Gamecocks starting to pull away as they went on a 14-2 run over the first six and a half minutes to take a 28-11 lead.  Much of that scoring was due to Coates, who worked hard to free herself from the Pirates defense to score six of those points.   Now it looked like the Gamecocks had finally shaken off the offensive cobwebs.

But once again, South Carolina went into a drought as the Pirates continued to play hard on the defensive end.  Hampton would hold South Carolina to two points in the last three and a half minutes of the second quarter, while scoring seven points of their own in that span.  The Gamecocks only led 30-18 after shooting just 30 percent in the first half.

After a halftime show that featured Cocky doing the Chicken Dance, the Gamecocks started on offense much like the men's basketball team did at the start of the second half vs. Drexel on Tuesday night.  South Carolina hit their first four field goal attempts, including two three pointers and a layup by Mitchell and one by Khadijah Sessions.  Interspersed with those field goals were four three throws, including a free throw on a three point play on the layup by Mitchell.  The Gamecocks extended their lead to nineteen, 45-26.

After a three point play by Tate-DeFreitas cut the lead back to sixteen, 45-29, the Gamecocks would extend the lead over the five final minutes of the quarter to take a 59-38 lead after three quarters.  The Gamecocks nearly scored as many points in the third quarter, twenty nine, than they did in the first twenty minutes of the first half.  They did this despite committing seven turnovers in the quarter.  They also extended their lead despite Hampton scoring more points in the third quarter, twenty, than they did in the first half.   What helped was that South Carolina shot seven of eight from the field in the third quarter.

The Gamecocks continued their hot shooting in the fourth quarter, scoring twenty seven more points while holding the Pirates to ten.   The Gamecocks shot seventy two percent in the second half in rout to the final score of 86-48, which looked a lot easier that it actually was for South Carolina.  Hampton, in playing a tough schedule that included #8 Texas, undefeated Oregon, defending CAA champion James Madison and Iowa State, held their own for a good thirty minutes.

Coming off her triple double against Winthrop, Coates had to settle for a double double with twenty two points and twelve rebounds.  Sarah Imovbioh added nineteen points and seven rebounds, while Mitchell chipped in with seventeen points and six rebounds.  South Carolina nearly had as many offensive rebounds, eighteen, as Hampton had total rebounds, nineteen.  The Gamecocks outrebounded the Pirates 52-19.  Tate-DeFreitas led the Pirates with fourteen while Ryan Jordan had nine points.

South Carolina takes their 10-0 record on the road to East Carolina for a game in Myrtle Beach on Sunday, before one last home non conference game against Elon next week before SEC conference play starts in the new year.   They certainly should have Wilson back by conference play.

By resting Wilson,  Staley has been able to reach into her bench and ten of her players played eight minutes or more last night.  That will give them experience heading into SEC games where four of the other teams are ranked; #8 Kentucky, #9 Mississippi State, #14 Tennessee and #18 Texas A&M.  Plus you have 10-0 Missouri, 9-1 Georgia, 9-1 Florida and 8-2 Vanderbilt waiting for the Gamecocks as well.

Hope Wilson has got a lot of rest.  She's going to need it come January.

Coates Triple Double Leads Gamecocks in Downing Winthrop

Entering Sunday's play against Winthrop, undefeated South Carolina had faced a pretty tough schedule in their first month and a half into the 2015-16 season.   The Gamecocks have played four games against nationally ranked opponents; a opening day 88-80 win over #10 Ohio State, a 68-65 win at #20 UCLA, a 60-58 win over #24 Arizona State in Hawaii and a 66-54 win over #13 Duke.

So it stood to reason that 8-0 South Carolina would sooner or later have a home non conference women's basketball game against a less formidable foe.   Thus the likely guaranteed game vs. Big South opponent Winthrop yesterday at the Colonial Life Arena.   But no matter who the opponent is on the court, the fans in Columbia love to turn out in droves for their #2 nationally ranked Gamecocks.  13,409 of them to be exact.  

Fans were a little concerned when they saw A'ja Wilson in warmup clothes quietly walking the court, shaking hands with referees before the game, as her teammates practiced on their side of the hardwood.  Wilson is day to day with "nagging injuries" and her status for Wednesday's home game against another non conference opponent in Hampton.

But the fans did not need to worry because the rest of the Gamecocks came to play.  And Alaina Coates gave everyone in the crowd a reason to go home happy after the game.

It was nice to be back in Colonial Life Arena.   It was my first live game of the college basketball season and it was good to have my older son Matthew with me as well.  As we got to our season ticket seats in section 115, I immediately got a text from my friend Toisha.  Her son Bryson, who is a good friend of Matthew's, along with being his baseball teammate, had spotted us going down to our seats from their section, three sections over.  I knew what would we be doing at halftime. 

From the tipoff it was clearly apparent that Winthrop had no answer for the Gamecocks size.  Even without the six foot four Wilson, the other six footers in South Carolina's lineup; the junior Coates, graduate transfer senior Sarah Imovbioh, senior Asia Dozier and sophomore Jatarie White were dominant all game long.  The Gamecocks had sixteen blocks on the game and outrebounded the Eagles 48-32.  

One of the things I have to get used to now in women's college basketball is that the game is broken up into quarters.   At least for yesterday's game, it made the game seem quicker.   It could have also been the fact that the Gamecocks came out strong in the first quarter, taking a 26-7 lead after the first ten minutes.   

And it wasn't like Dawn Staley kept the starters in for the entire first quarter.  After a few minutes, Staley did a hockey line change, taking out four of her starters.   It didn't matter who was on the court for South Carolina.  They were relentless and fun, especially watching sophomore guard Bianca Cuevas.  The Bronx, New York native is a five foot six dynamo who often flies the court with seemingly reckless abandon.  

One particular highlight in the game was Cuevas driving strong to the basket and then took an offense balance layup where the ball arched high off the backboard and into the basket.  Staley had a sheepish grin on her face knowing it might not have been the most fundamentally sound basketball move, but you have to let Cuevas be Cuevas.

There was no let up by South Carolina in the second quarter, as they outscored Winthrop 21-6.  Along with Cuevas' circus shot layup, the other highlight of the first half was Coates blocking back to back Eagles' shots.  Then after the second block, Coates grabbed the ball and fired an outlet pass.  This lead to a Gamecocks' fast break basket and had the fans roaring in approval.  South Carolina was up 47-13 at the half.

At halftime, Matthew and I made our way to our friends over at section 118.  There was a group of seats open in front of the row Toisha and Bryson were sitting at.  Bryson quickly joined Matt in the row and a few minutes later were going around the arena, including hanging out with Cocky, the Gamecocks' mascot.  The two partners in crime were having fun and that's all that matters.

Three words described the second half of play - "Rinse, Lather, Repeat".  The Gamecocks came out of the locker room after halftime and continued to roll.  What I love about Staley's game plan, and she's not shy about it, is that the Gamecocks work the ball inside to Coates and then it's either a shot at the basket or when the defense converges, she kicks it out to open players on the wing.  The Gamecocks shot 9 of 24 from outside the arc, a respectable 37.5 percent.  It's simple fundamental basketball that works. 

Coates would shoot a ridiculous 13 of 15 from the field and hit three of her five free throws from the line.   She already had a double double easily into the third quarter as she had six offensive rebounds on the game.  

The Gamecocks were up 80-32 with about five minutes left in the game.  The Gamecocks had all their reserves in with the exception of one person;  Coates.  And there was a reason for that.  Coates had a chance to get a triple double in the game with one more block.  She got that with just a few seconds left in the game for her first career triple double; 29 points,16 rebounds and 10 blocks.  

For my first live game of my tenth year of covering men's and women's college basketball, I got to see one of the best overall performances in those ten years.  Coates was clearly the best player on the court on Sunday, leading her team to a 86-37 drubbing of Winthrop.

Coates is on a serious roll, having hit 20 of her last 24 shots (she was 7 of 9 vs. Duke).  She is shooting sixty seven percent from the field on the season. And Coates is only the third leading scorer for South Carolina on the season (Wilson averages 18 points per game, Tiffany Mitchell averages 13 points per game).

Something tells me Wilson will get another day of rest on Wednesday in the Gamecocks next home game vs. Hampton.  As South Carolina fans now know, Coates has got her covered.

It's Better in Columbia Than in the Bahamas for Gamecocks

When South Carolina found out Friday night that their opponent would be Syracuse on Sunday, they already had first hand knowledge of the Orange.  Earlier in the season, the Gamecocks played the Orange in a preseason tournament in the Bahamas.   South Carolina had to rally from a ten point deficit with a little under seven minutes left to beat then No. 22 Syracuse 67-63 in the Junkanoo Jam.

The Orange had played a zone in that game, packing it in against the Gamecocks' bigs, daring South Carolina to hit from the outside.   The Gamecocks hit on nine of twenty six three pointers and were actually out-rebounded by the smaller Orange 50-35.

So Dawn Staley and her team knew what was cut out for them Sunday evening.  They were going to have to have their outside game working against's Cuse's zone and do their best to contend for rebounds against the tenacious Orange.

When my color analyst, aka my older son, Matthew and I got to Colonial Life Arena about ninety minutes before game time, we saw a large crowd standing outside of the arena, full of umbrellas due to the light rain falling. I believe due to NCAA rules, they were not allowing fans to enter the arena until an hour before game time.

It was my fourth NCAA Tournament and my second NCAA Women's Tournament.  My first women's tournament had actually been in 2001, when my good friend and now Seton Hall Women's Basketball Head Coach, Anthony Bozzella, took his LIU Brooklyn team to the NEC Championship in 2001.  His reward was to face UConn in Storrs in the First Round of the 2001 NCAA Tournament and I was there as his team lost to the #1 seed Huskies.   It's ironic that in Coach Bozzella's second ever NCAA Tournament appearance this season, he would again be in Storrs (Seton Hall lost a close first round game to Rutgers last night).

I had been to two NCAA Men's tournament regionals in Raleigh in 2008 and last year.  In 2008, I got to see Davidson and Steph Curry upset first Gonzaga and then Georgetown.  Last year, I got to see Mercer upset Duke.  This year, I was rooting for chalk.

Once 6:00 PM hit, a loud roar came from the crowd as they finally let the fans into the arena.   The crowd line moved at a reasonable pace and we got into the arena rather quickly, then along with the rest of the large herd, got through the ticket takers.   I decided to splurge for a $15 NCAA program, which is actually a nice keepsake.  Every team that made the tournament has their own page in the program with a team photo, roster, statistics leaders, team record and results.  It was cool to see Seton Hall and South Carolina's teams in there.

The 10,485 fans in attendance were energized from the get go, with a loud "Let's Go Gamecocks" chant to start things out.   Syracuse struck first on a three by their point guard Alexis Petersen, who reminded me of a female Pearl Washington.  But South Carolina answered. scoring eleven of the next thirteen points.  The Gamecocks moved the ball well around the Orange zone, as they had three assists during the span, two by Tiffany Mitchell.   Asia Dozier banged in two three pointers, the second of which put the Gamecocks up seven, 14-7.

The Gamecocks extended the lead to eleven, 20-9 on a Mitchell three pointer.  They extended the lead to thirteen, 27-14 as Alaina Coates hit three free throws as the smaller Orange couldn't contain her in the paint, despite their zone.   The Orange would cut the deficit to ten, 27-17 on a Brianna Butler three pointer.   Butler and Petersen combined to score fifteen of Syracuse's first seventeen points.

But that's as close as Syracuse would get the rest of the way.   South Carolina would respond with a 10-0 run over three and a half minutes, as again the Orange could not handle the bigger Gamecocks inside.  A'ja Wilson's two free throws put South Carolina up twenty, 37-17 with five and a half minutes left till halftime

The Gamecocks would actually extend the lead even further, thanks to unselfish basketball and nice passing.  South Carolina would have assists on their next six baskets, capped by an assist by Dozier on Aleigsha Welch layup to make the score 51-23.   The Gamecocks would enter the half up 53-25.  Their unselfish play over the first twenty minutes rendered Syracuse's zone useless.

The early three pointers by the Gamecocks, combined with the Syracuse bigs; Briana Day, Bria Day, Isabella Slim and Taylor Ford all getting into foul trouble, opened up the paint for South Carolina's bigs; Coates, Wilson and Welch.  The game was over for all intensive purposes at halftime.

The start of the second half saw the Gamecocks hold serve and actually extend the lead to thirty one, 63-32, on an Elem Ibiam jumper.  With about ten minutes left, the lead was still twenty eight, 71-43.   Syracuse would cut the deficit down to twenty, 85-65 on a Peterson three pointer with 4:43 left.  But South Carolina would actually extend the margin over the last few minutes, holding the Orange to three points the rest of the way, eventually winning 97-68.

The Gamecocks shot fifty two percent from the field, including a very efficient eight of nineteen from beyond the arc.  South Carolina distributed the ball extremely well on the evening with twenty assists. They also out-rebounded the Orange 40-35 and held Syracuse to thirty three percent shooting from the field.

Finally, the Gamecocks showed a great amount of balance, with six players scoring in double figures.  Coates and Mitchell each had fourteen points, Wilson and Welch each had thirteen points and Dozier and Bianca Cuevas, an absolute blur when on the court, each had twelve points.

Petersen led all scorers with twenty three points.  Cornelia Fondren added sixteen for the Cuse, while Butler had twelve points.

The Gamecocks now move onto the Sweet Sixteen and a likely rematch with North Carolina, who defeated South Carolina in last year' Sweet Sixteen (that's if the Tar Heels get by the Buckeyes of Ohio State tomorrow).   But it seems the Gamecocks like having rematches with opponents.  The Tar Heels might want to ask the Orange about that.