South Carolina women's basketball: Chloe Kitts' career-high 25 points stuffs Vanderbilt's fourth quarter rally

Chloe Kitts scored 11 of her career-high 25 points in the fourth quarter to help South Carolina hold off Vanderbilt 84-63 and advance to the SEC tournament semifinals on Saturday.

South Carolina led by as much as 25, but the lead shrunk to just five points on a banked-in three by Mikayla Blakes with four minutes left. Then Kitts and the Gamecocks took over.

“I was just going out there and playing confident,” Kitts said. “My coaches, and the point guard, kept saying 14, which is kind of get the ball to me. I just delivered.”

Kitts quickly scored out of the timeout, the first of seven straight points she scored. South Carolina finished the game on a 16-0 run. Kitts notched her third consecutive double-double (including a triple-double) with 25 points and 10 rebounds.

“This is really who Chloe is,” Dawn Staley said. “Starting to play very consistent basketball. She wants the ball in her hands. She wants to be a play-maker. She wants to be the one that can score it or dish it to a teammate. I thought her teammates did a really good job of finding her. I thought she did a really good job of making the play. We called her number and she delivered for us.”

South Carolina shot 10-11 in the fourth quarter. That came after shooting just 5-19 in the third quarter. South Carolina finished the game shooting 54.7%.

“As a coach, I’m looking out there, you see after six or eight points, it’s deflation, right?” Shea Ralph said. “We can’t be that. It’s basketball. It’s a game of runs. It’s not a great time to have a run for the other team, but we have to be better and let it be 4 to 6 points and not 16.”

South Carolina’s defense, which had vanished in the fourth quarter, returned to its first-half form and didn’t allow another point. 

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After getting torched for 48 points on 58.8% shooting in the first half, Vanderbilt had to change things up at halftime. 

In the second half, the Commodores started mixing in zone and press defenses and the Gamecocks struggled to adjust. 

“We did not make good decisions out there,” Staley said. “A lot had to do with what Vandy was doing to us. They doubled us. They pressured us. They forced us into some turnovers that created some easy baskets for them, that created some momentum for them, that cut into our lead. Just bad basketball. I mean, we mentioned it at halftime, like, we’re playing really good basketball. Really good basketball is contagious, and really bad basketball is contagious.”

Vanderbilt led 13-11 with three minutes left in the first quarter when Tessa Johnson drew the second foul on Blakes, sending her to the bench. That gave South Carolina the window it needed to take over.

South Carolina outscored Vanderbilt 13-2 to end the quarter, capped by a steal and buzzer-beating three by MiLaysia Fulwiley. 

The surge continued into the second quarter, even after Blakes returned. The Gamecocks extended the run to 33-6 and took a 25-point lead into halftime. 

South Carolina’s defense in the first half was outstanding. Vanderbilt shot just 30.3% and had nine turnovers. Blakes managed just six points on 2-8 shooting.

Blakes got hot in the second half and finished with 20 points, but she shot just 5-15 . Vanderbilt shot just 37.1% for the game.

Khamil Pierre added 17 points and 10 rebounds, and Iyana Moore had 16 points.

Fulwiley was the sparkplug in the first half and finished with 15 points and four steals. Sania Feagin added 13 points and nine rebounds, and Joyce Edwards had 12 points.

South Carolina outscored Vanderbilt in the paint 58 to 28 and outrebounded the Commodores by 14.

“We wanted to make sure that we really attacked the paint through our bigs, through our penetration, because we felt like that would give us an edge,” Staley said.

Notes:
Bree Hall and Tessa Johnson combined for just seven points, but they played outstanding defense on Blakes. … South Carolina had 18 points off of 16 turnovers, but allowed 15 points off of 15 turnovers. … South Carolina had 12 steals. … Dawn Staley’s outfit: Staley wore a black Louis Vuitton jacket over a white Gamecock shirt.

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