South Carolina women's basketball: Tessa Johnson sparks quarterfinal win

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Despite a brutal first quarter, South Carolina pulled away in the second half for a comfortable 79-68 win.

The Gamecocks committed a whopping 10 turnovers in the first quarter and led just 16-13. They looked overwhelmed and inexperienced – playing too fast instead of letting the game develop. 

Texas A&M took a 17-16 lead early in the second quarter, and it was South Carolina’s unsung players who steadied the ship. Tessa Johnson made four consecutive free throws and Bree Hall hit a midrange jumper as the Gamecock defense forced three consecutive turnovers.

“We were trying to go back to how we played in regular season,” Johnson said. “I mean, we were just playing basketball. It wasn’t the greatest basketball, but we were finding our teammates.”

Johnson then blocked a layup by Sole Williams, the first blocked shot of her college career. After the block, Johnson nailed a three-pointer to cap a 9-0 make it 25-17 Gamecocks.

“I was just playing the game,” Johnson said. “My teammates did what they had to do. The ball found me. I just shot it.”

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Johnson finished with an SEC-high 13 points and made 6-7 free throws.

“Now that we’re in post-season, some of the novelty of our starting lineup will wear off,” Dawn Staley said. “But the novelty of her being able to give us the kind of minutes that she gave us today, I mean, she’s primed to have a good post-season.”

Texas A&M hung around for the rest of the half and into the third quarter, but South Carolina was able to draw a third and fourth foul on Janiah Barker, who led all scorers with 11 points when she picked up the fourth foul. 

As soon as Barker sat, South Carolina went on a 9-3 run to re-establish control of the game. Texas A&M managed a 5-0 run to end the third quarter, but then Tessa Johnson effectively negated it with a three-point play to start the fourth. 

Aicha Coulibaly scored a game-high 32 points, but a technical foul in the fourth quarter essentially ended Texas A&M’s hopes. Kamilla Cardoso grabbed a rebound and was fouled, and Coulibaly stomped her feet in disgust. The resulting free throws turned into a five-point possession and South Carolina’s largest lead of the game.

Cardoso finished with 17 points and six rebounds. Ashlyn Watkins joined her in double figures with 10 points.

South Carolina shot 51.8%, enough to overcome a season-high 24 turnovers. 

“The 24 turnovers are a killer,” Staley said. “It didn’t shoot us in the foot as bad as it could, but I will say if we play like this in the semifinals, that will be our last game here in Greenville.”

South Carolina only committed 14 turnovers over the final three quarters, and limited Texas A&M to 16 points off turnovers. The Gamecocks also had 20 assists on 29 baskets. 

“We knew what we had to do,” said Ashlyn Watkins. “We knew we had to win this game. We just came at it like we wanted to win.”

Notes:

Both the semifinal games and the championship game are sold out. … South Carolina’s previous season-high for turnovers was 23 against Utah. … Lauren Ware added 10 points for Texas A&M. … South Carolina was plus-12 rebounding. … When Chloe Kittsdrew the fifth foul on Barker, Kitts and Fulwiley grinned at Barker, clearly proud she was gone. Barker was talking smack throughout the game (that she was getting back). … Kitts and Te-Hina Paopao each had eight points. … Raven Johnson had six points, six rebounds, and five assists. … Dawn Staley’s outfit: Staley wore an all-black sweatsuit. … South Carolina will play the winner of Alabama-Tennessee on Saturday.

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