South Carolina women's basketball: Joyce Edwards' huge fourth quarter leads the Gamecocks over Alabama

Joyce Edwards scored 11 of her career-high 21 points in the fourth quarter to help #2 South Carolina hold off #19 Alabama for a 76-58 win.

Edwards’ clutch play began at the end of the third quarter. Alabama cut South Carolina’s lead to four points with less than a minute left. Chloe Kitts found Edwards cutting to the rim for a layup as time wound down. Edwards started the fourth quarter with another basket to give South Carolina breathing room.

Edwards finished with 21 points, six rebounds and a block. She shot 7-10 from the floor and a perfect 7-7 from the line. In the fourth quarter alone, Edwards went 4-5 from the floor, 3-3 from the line, and grabbed three rebounds.

“I don’t feel any type of pressure to do that. It’s something we all do,” Edwards said on the broadcast. “Anybody on our team can get hot at any time.”

“Joyce is special,” Dawn Staley said. “She works really hard at it. She doesn’t take plays off. She might not be ready for some plays, because they got her. Essence Cody got her in the fourth quarter. But she’s a relentless worker, she’s a tireless worker. She wants to be great at everything she does. And to see her play as consistently and efficiently over the past couple of games is saying that she’s found her footing.”

Aaliyah Nye got the game started with a layup on Alabama’s first possession, but then the Crimson Tide went cold.

WIN TICKETS: Help introduce No. 13 Oklahoma to the SEC and South Carolina women’s basketball

Kitts and Te-Hina Paopao each scored four points during a 12-0 South Carolina run that lasted nearly five minutes. Alabama missed all eight shot attempts during that span.

That 10-point Gamecock lead basically held for the rest of the game. Alabama trimmed the lead to four in the first, second, and third quarters, but each time South Carolina answered with a scoring spurt to go back up by double figures.

“They do a really good job of making you pay for mistakes,” Kristi Curry said. “We did a really good job of taking care of the basketball – eight turnovers, nine assists – but I thought we had some errors as far as our execution. And every time that we did, that’s what really good teams do. I thought they got to the free throw line late and converted.”

Alabama ran out of gas in the fourth quarter, and South Carolina finished on a 12-2 run that made the margin of victory deceptive.

Playing without injured Sarah Ashlee Barker, undersized Alabama tried to pack the paint defensively. The results were mixed. 

Despite getting mostly open shots, South Carolina went just 3-20 from three. Bree Hall shot 0-4, Paopao was 1-5, and Tessa Johnson was 1-3. MiLaysia Fulwiley was also 1-4, as South Carolina couldn’t punish Alabama for giving them open looks.

Alabama couldn’t keep South Carolina off the glass. Led by Kitts’ 13 rebounds, South Carolina outrebounded Alabama by 17. That included 18 offensive rebounds that led to 19 second-chance points. 

“Chloe’s been doing a great job at just ‘head down and going’, she’s a veteran out there,” Staley said. “She’s one of our most experienced post players, and I do think she feels the weight of losing Ashlyn. It’s working out in her favor. I think she’s done a great job rebounding. She sticks her nose into getting rebounds, she’s unafraid.”

Alabama got 18 points off 15 South Carolina turnovers, but it wasn’t enough to overcome 32% shooting.

WIN TICKETS: Kim Mulkey and undefeated LSU are coming to Columbia on Jan. 23

Nye scored a career-high 32 points in the last game but only got 12 on 4-15 shooting Thursday. Zaay Green and Essence Cody each had 15 points, but they shot 6-17 and 6-15, respectively.

Fulwiley added 16  points and four rebounds for the Gamecocks. Kitts had her fifth double-double of the season with 10 points and 13 rebounds, and tied her career-high with five assists. Paopao also finished with 11 points.

Notes:
Maddy McDaniel played for the first time since before Christmas. She needed just 15 seconds to dish out her first assist and finished with a point, assist, and steal in seven minutes. … Maryam Dauda struggled in seven minutes. … Adhel Tac and Sakima Walker did not play. … Alabama was 4-22 from three, so the poor shooting was contagious. … Dawn Staley’s outfit: Staley wore a light gray poncho with navy and green stripes. … Announced attendance was 3,669. … South Carolina’s next game is on Sunday against Oklahoma.

Discuss South Carolina women’s basketball on The Insiders Forum!