Aliyah Boston leads South Carolina women's basketball over Georgia

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The No. 1 South Carolina women’s basketball team beat No. 17 Georgia, 72-54, behind Aliyah Boston’s 17th consecutive double-double.

Georgia looked more assertive early, getting on the glass and keeping South Carolina off-balance. But Jenna Staiti picked up her second foul with 6:04 left in the first, and when she took a seat on the bench, it was like flipping a switch. 

South Carolina scored 23 of the next 27 points to turn a 6-6 tie into a 29-10 rout. It was a classic 2020 Gamecock run, unlike the runs this season’s team has produced. Destanni Henderson hit a corner three off a turnover and then Zia Cooke hit a transition three from the other corner. South Carolina was firing on all cylinders. Boston scored inside, Bree Hall scored off a turnover, and Cooke hit a pull-up 30-foot three at the first-quarter buzzer.

“It starts on the defensive side of the basketball,” Dawn Staley said. “We were pretty locked in.”

The second quarter was more of the same, with Hall and fellow freshmen Saniya Rivers and Sania Feagin getting transition baskets. Ten of the points in a 12-0 run came from reserves as the Gamecocks pushed the lead to 30. In a stretch spanning the first and second quarters, South Carolina made 13 consecutive shot attempts, and was shooting 72.7% from the floor.

“We just turned the ball over a little too much in the first half,” Staiti said. “You give a team like that momentum like that they’re going to take advantage of it.”

Joni Taylor had to put Staiti back in the game, and the move settled down the Lady Bulldogs. They went on a 10-0 run and trailed by 26 at halftime. Still, it was too much for the Lady Bulldogs to overcome. They gave up 25 points on 13 turnovers, the opposite of what they hoped to do.

“That’s how they want to score, they want to run in transition off of turnovers,” Taylor said. “We did a good job of rebounding with them but we turned it over too much.”

• Chris Wellbaum’s Game Analysis
• Mike Uva’s Instant Game Reaction

Georgia outscored South Carolina by eight in the second half, and for the second game in a  row, South Carolina had some nervous moments at the end of what had been an easy win. South Carolina equaled its first-half streak by missing 13 straight shot attempts. The shooting percentage dropped from 63.3% to 32.3%. Georgia got as close as 15, but then South Carolina did what it always does in crunch time: got the ball to Boston. She scored, and had four points and four rebounds of her game-high 18 points and 12 rebounds in the fourth quarter.

For just the second time this season, and second time in two seasons, South Carolina was outrebounded. Georgia won the rebounding battle 37-35, and South Carolina was uncharacteristically poor on the offensive glass. The Gamecocks had a season-low nine offensive rebounds, despite 32 missed shots.

It was where the absence of Laeticia Amihere and Kamilla Cardoso, both with their national teams, was felt. They average a combined 9.7 rebounds per game, but beyond the numbers, Boston had to play 35 minutes because Cardoso couldn’t pick up her minutes. Boston was visibly tired in the second half and asked out of the game at least once. But the coaches told her she had to stay in because there was nobody else to play against Staiti, who had 15 points and 10 rebounds.

Henderson finished with 15 points and Cooke had ten. 

South Carolina women’s basketball notes

Victaria Saxton, who is from nearby Rome, had her own cheering section. Her high school team attended the game. They also attended in 2020, the last time South Carolina played at Georgia. … Cooke tied her career-high with five assists. … The win was South Carolina’s 15th straight over Georgia. … South Carolina borrowed Nike basketballs from Benedict to prepare for Georgia’s Nike balls. … Feagin had five points including a steal and coast-to-coast three-point play, but she was easily overpowered by Staiti at other times. … Announced attendance was 5,461. … South Carolina’s next game is Thursday against Auburn.