South Carolina women's basketball: Gamecocks bounce back with blowout of Arkansas

Five Gamecocks scored in double figures and South Carolina dominated the third quarter to pull away from Arkansas for a 95-55 win.

South Carolina was coming off an embarrassing 87-58 home loss to UConn on Sunday, ending a 71-game home winning streak that lasted over four years. Struggling Arkansas, owners of the worst NET ranking in the SEC, seemed like the perfect salve for whatever ailed South Carolina.

But for 15 minutes, the Razorbacks hung with the Gamecocks. A jumper by Izzy Higginbottom cut the Gamecocks’ lead to 26-21 with five minutes left in the first half. 

Malaysia Fulwiley provided a spark and scored eight points before halftime. South Carolina outscored Arkansas 18-7 during that span to take a comfortable lead into halftime.

The Gamecocks took over in the third quarter. Joyce Edwards scored nine points during a 16-0 run that lasted barely three minutes. Fulwiley capped the run with another eye-popping behind-the-back, over-the-shoulder layup, plus a foul.

“Lay has a real good understanding of what needs to happen,” Dawn Staley said. “She really does. In the moment, I don’t think she can help herself sometimes. I thought today was great. They were timely, they were what she was supposed to do in that situation.”

South Carolina ended up with 27 assists on 37 made baskets and shot 45.1%. They went 8-18 from three (44.4%) and 13-15 from the line.

“We knew we were going to get a very focused South Carolina, which we got, especially in the second half,” Mike Neighbors said. “They have no weaknesses when they play like that.”

Edwards led South Carolina with 18 points, chipping in eight rebounds. She shot just 1-5 in the first half but went 7-9 in the second half and added eight rebounds in just 19 minutes of action.

“We knew we had to come in and execute and show the world who South Carolina is, remind the world who South Carolina is,” Edwards said. “That’s what we did.”

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Fulwiley had a great all-around game. She finished with 15 points, four rebounds, four assists, a block, and a steal. She was 1-3 from three, but instead of settling for threes she repeatedly attacked the basket. That led to one highlight after another.

“I was very confident compared to how confident I’ve been in the past,” Fulwiley said. “A lot of layups were falling for me and I was excited. It made me feel good about taking more layups.”

Chloe Kitts had her first double-double in over a month with 10 points and 13 rebounds. Tessa Johnson had 10 points and a career-high six assists.

Bree Hall scored a season-high 14 points. She had 10 in the first half while waiting for her teammates to wake up.

South Carolina also outrebounded Arkansas by 29 and had 22 points off of 15 Arkansas turnovers, fixing two of the issues against UConn. Arkansas had just two points off of eight turnovers.

“I thought we were more like ourselves when it came to the toughness piece of it. The extra effort on the boards, the loose balls. I thought we wanted to win all of them,” Staley said. “I was happy about that.”

South Carolina held Higginbottom, the SEC’s leading scorer, to just 10 points on 3-17 shooting. Kiki Smith led the Razorbacks with 18 points.

Notes:
Former Razorback Maryam Dauda had nine points and tied her season-high with eight rebounds. … The Gamecocks officially clinched a double-bye in the SEC Tournament. They remained tied with Texas for the top seed. … All 12 Gamecocks played. All but Sakima Walker scored. … Mike Neighbors said after the game, “We did meet one goal. Y’all didn’t get free chicken tonight.” … Dawn Staley’s outfit: Staley wore the garnet, black, and white jacket that was made for the team’s Paris trip last season. … Announced attendance was 16,638. … South Carolina’s next game is Sunday at Vanderbilt.

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