South Carolina women's basketball stays unbeaten with rout of Mississippi State

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#1 South Carolina remained undefeated with an 85-66 win over Mississippi State.

South Carolina started slowly, particularly on defense. Mississippi State shot 52.9% in the first quarter and led for most of the frame. But in what seemed like the blink of an eye – actually just over three minutes of game time – the Gamecocks turned the deficit into a double-digit lead they would never surrender.

A jumper by Tessa Johnson started the run with Mississippi State up 19-16. Over the final two minutes, South Carolina outscored Mississippi State 10-2. Then Johnson and Chloe Kitts combined to score three baskets in the first minute and fourteen seconds of the second quarter to make it a 16-2 run and a 32-21 lead.

Mississippi State went on a 7-0 run midway through the second quarter to cut the lead to five, and South Carolina struggled to turn the game into the blowout everyone expected. 

“We didn’t go out there and execute the way that we should,” Bree Hall said. “We have really high standards and we didn’t meet them.”

The Gamecocks led by 10 at halftime, 16 after three, and as much as 27 in the fourth quarter.

South Carolina held Mississippi State to 36% shooting and allowed just 31% (18-58) over the final three quarters. 

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“You’ve got to make some shots,” Sam Purcell said. “You’ve got to make some shots and keep them off the boards, and unfortunately we couldn’t make enough shots.”

The Gamecocks shot 47.1% from the floor and 6-12 from three. They cleaned up their two question marks, hitting 15-20 from the line and only committing 11 turnovers. But South Carolina was just 14-34 on layups, otherwise the game would have become a blowout by halftime. 

“I thought we did enough to win the basketball game but probably not enough to win this league,” Dawn Staley said. “We played undisciplined and uncharacteristically on both sides of the basketball. That’s disheartening because we’ve worked really hard to have those instances 

Not appear in the basketball game or cover it up a little bit better.”

South Carolina got double-digit scoring games from four starters, plus two reserves with nine points each. Hall had a team-high 15 and went 3-4 from three. Kamilla Cardoso had 13 points, 14 rebounds, and tied her career-high with six assists. Kitts and Te-Hina Paopao each had 12 points. Ashlyn Watkins had nine points, 10 rebounds and three blocks off the bench. MiLaysia Fulwiley also had nine points.

Jerkaila Jordan scored an SEC-career-high 25 points for Mississippi State (“Is that for real?” she asked, looking at the box score). Lauren Park-Lane added 14 points, but nobody else hit double-figures. South Carolina held Jessika Carter to eight points and six rebounds on 3-11 shooting.

Notes:

#3 NC State lost 63-62 at #13 Virginia Tech. That leaves just three unbeaten teams in the country: South Carolina, UCLA, and Baylor. … Future Gamecock Joyce Edwards was at the game and was recognized on the video board during a timeout. … All 11 Gamecocks played. All but Sania Feagin scored. … Tessa Johnson with four points, two assists, and a rebound. … Te-Hina Paopao hit a three in the fourth quarter to keep her streak alive of making at least two three-pointers in every game. … Mississippi State was just 3-19 from three. … Dawn Staley’s outfit: Staley wore a black Balenciaga hoodie. … Announced attendance was 15,751. … South Carolina’s next game is Thursday at Missouri.

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