South Carolina women's basketball: Balanced scoring wears down Arkansas

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outh Carolina advanced to the SEC Tournament semifinals with a 93-66 win over Arkansas. 

The Gamecocks got huge games from a pair of unlikely sources: Victoria Saxton and Kierra Fletcher. The two super seniors played like the veterans they are, players who want to make sure they get as many games as possible in the rest of their careers.

Saxton scored a season-high 19 points on 8-10 shooting. With Aliyah Boston drawing most of the defensive attention, Saxton was able to get deep post position that she turned into easy layups. Saxton said she never felt like she was in a zone, but her mother did.

“I don’t think there was a point. I just do my job every game and do what I’m here to do and play my role,” Saxton said. “Yeah, mom was yelling.”

Fletcher contributed 12 points, six rebounds, and three assists plus some strong defense. She also got Arkansas’ Samara Spencer in early foul trouble by posting up.

Boston has had some huge games against Arkansas in her career, but she only played 19 minutes Friday. She still finished with 11 points, 10 rebounds, five assists, and four blocks.

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South Carolina led by as much as 20 in the third quarter but only by 15 going into the fourth quarter. That was still enough for Dawn Staley to turn to the bench to finish things off. Backups Raven Johnson, Bree Hall, Laeticia Amihere, Ashlyn Watkins, and Kamilla Cardoso responded with a 9-0 run that gave South Carolina its largest lead of the game. 

Cardoso and Amihere went to work in the paint. Amihere ended up with a season-high 16 points while Cardoso chipped in 14 points, eight rebounds, three blocks, and three assists. 

Ultimately, the Razorbacks wore down as all 14 Gamecocks played. The Gamecocks’ bench outscored the Razorbacks 43-4.

“There are no schematics. I can draw up some of the best plays that have worked historically for the best teams I’ve coached. They’re not going to work when you try to throw it inside against those kids. It’s a challenge to find a good shot,” Mike Neighbors said. “They’re not going to beat you with tricks. They’re going to beat you with being better position-by-position, across the board.”

Saylor Poffenbarger led all scorers with 22 points, and Spencer had 16, but they couldn’t slow down South Carolina.

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Arkansas entered the SEC tournament on the NCAA bubble. Beating Missouri on Thursday helped the Razorbacks’ case, and they hoped they could play South Carolina close enough to bolster their case. Staley has no doubt Arkansas deserves to be in the tournament. 

“Without a doubt, they’re in,” Staley said. “The schedule that they played, they finished strong in our league. They’re in. They play in the SEC, and with that type of record and that nonconference schedule, I would be shocked.”

Notes:

South Carolina started the game 5-13 on layups and then went 18-25. … The Gamecocks shot 54% while holding Arkansas to 33%. … South Carolina outscored Arkansas 60-18 in the paint and held a 51-26 rebounding edge. … A couple of times in the third quarter Fletcher and Rylee Langerman got tangled up chasing loose balls. After the brawl between Kentucky and Florida earlier in the tournament, everyone held their breath when it happened, but both times the pair got up smiling. … Aliyah Boston braids report: Boston continued to sport red braids with pink highlights. … Dawn Staley fit report: Staley wore a red, white, and black track suit. … South Carolina advances to play the winner of the Texas A&M-Ole Miss game on Saturday.

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