No. 5 Gamecocks hammer Vandy, put up 106 points in SEC road victory
Through the first half of the South Carolina women’s basketball’s season, coach Dawn Staley hasn’t been shy about saying her fifth-ranked Gamecocks have lacked a certain “grittiness” on defense.
On Thursday, USC had more than enough of that grit, thrashing Vanderbilt for a 106-43 win and holding the Commodores completely scoreless in the second quarter.
“It’s what we’ve been working on for the last couple of games. You know, we’re adjusting. We’re trying to figure out what we’re good at, what we’re not good at,” Staley said of the defensive performance. “And I think we’re bringing it to their attention as a coaching staff to force them and encourage them to play with grittiness, because we know that we’re going to get everybody’s best effort.”
It’s the second time in the past two seasons that South Carolina has pitched a quarter-long shutout on defense — the Gamecocks did so last year against Ole Miss. On Thursday, USC held Vandy to 0-for-16 shooting while forcing eight turnovers in the period, turning an already sizable 17-point lead after the first quarter into a 36-point halftime advantage.
Even with South Carolina’s reserves getting plenty of minutes in the second half, the Gamecocks kept Vanderbilt to just 29.2% from field and got 19 takeaways.
Meanwhile, junior forward Victaria Saxton and sophomore guard Brea Beal led USC with career nights — Saxton tallied 20 points on 9-of-10 shooting, while Beal added 17 points on 77.8% shooting.
3 OBSERVATIONS
1. High flying starts
While Saxton led the Gamecocks in points Thursday, the Gamecocks spread around their scoring — every starter was on the score sheet within three minutes of the start of the game. Both Saxton and Beal hit double figures by the end of the period, and USC tied its season high for most points in the first quarter with 30.
And coming out of halftime, the South Carolina offense once more flexed its muscles, reeling off a 19-6 run. Sophomore forward Laeticia Amihere had seven points in the quarter and USC had its most points in a single quarter this season with 33.
“You don’t play for the scoreboard. You play for the moment, (for) opportunities,” Staley said of how she got her squad to not let up. “We were able to play a lot of people, and a lot of people have to play, a lot of people have to get game experience.”
2. Ice-cold second quarter
Vanderbilt tried everything it could to get going in the second quarter, driving for layups, pulling up in the midrange and trying from 3. But the Gamecocks did a good job of contesting everything and recorded four blocks in the quarter. They also snagged five steals, harassing the Commodores all over the floor.
“I thought our players really stayed engaged,” Staley said. “I mean all night, 98% of the game, I thought we were just in the play, we were disruptive, we used our length, our speed our strength. And it was a good game for us to gauge ourselves and try to put another notch on our belt, to have some type of identity on the defensive side of the ball.”
On the other hand, the Gamecock offense had its only real lull of the night in the quarter as well — South Carolina went more than five minutes without a made field goal as its second unit struggled a little.
3. Century mark
For the third time this season and the first time in SEC play, South Carolina hit 100 points for the game. That’s as many times as it reached the century mark during all of last year’s historic 32-1 campaign. Thursday marked the most points USC has ever scored in a conference game under Dawn Staley, and all 11 Gamecocks scored. And still, Staley said, they can be better.
“No doubt we can get better,” Staley said. “I think we’re finally settling in on being able to push the ball and score in transition, so that part is developing quite nicely. It’s in the half court is when we have to have a little bit more ... fluidity, ball movement and not take bad shots. We shouldn’t have to create shots with a shot clock that isn’t low.”
Rescheduled game update
The USC-Georgia women’s basketball game (Jan. 7) that was postponed because of a brief Gamecocks COVID pause will now be played this Thursday. The game at Colonial Life Arena tips at 6:30 p.m. on SEC Network.
Next game
Who: No. 5 South Carolina (9-1, 4-0 SEC) vs. No. 17 Arkansas (10-4, 1-3 SEC)
When: 7 p.m. Monday
Where: Colonial Life Arena in Columbia
Watch: ESPN2
Box score: South Carolina vs Vanderbilt
SOUTH CAROLINA (9-1)—Boston 4-8 1-1 9, Saxton 9-10 2-5 20, Beal 7-9 0-2 17, Cooke 3-7 3-4 9, Henderson 4-8 3-3 12, Amihere 4-7 3-5 11, Wesolek 2-3 0-0 4, Grissett 3-8 1-1 7, Littleton 2-5 2-2 8, Thompson 1-3 0-0 3, Russell 3-8 0-2 6, Team 0-0 0-0 0, Totals 42-76 15-25 106
VANDERBILT (4-3)—Chambers 1-7 0-2 2, Love 8-21 1-5 18, Bartram 0-5 0-0 0, Hall 3-13 2-2 8, Pehadzic 4-12 0-0 9, Golden 1-2 0-0 2, Bowman 1-1 0-0 2, LaChance 1-4 0-0 2, Team 0-0 0-0 0, Totals 19-65 3-9 43
Halftime—South Carolina 49-13. 3-Point Goals—South Carolina 7-17 (Boston 0-1, Beal 3-4, Cooke 0-1, Henderson 1-3, Littleton 2-3, Thompson 1-3, Russell 0-2), Vanderbilt 2-8 (Love 1-2, Bartram 0-5, Pehadzic 1-1). Assists—South Carolina 19 (Henderson 9), Vanderbilt 3 (Bartram 1). Fouled Out—Vanderbilt Golden. Rebounds—South Carolina 60 (Grissett 7-12), Vanderbilt 28 (Team 5-5). Total Fouls—South Carolina 12, Vanderbilt 18. Technical Fouls—None. A—24.
This story was originally published January 14, 2021 at 9:50 PM with the headline "No. 5 Gamecocks hammer Vandy, put up 106 points in SEC road victory."
