South Carolina women's basketball steamrolls Texas A&M

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South Carolina rolled over Texas A&M 89-48 as Aliyah Boston recorded her record 20th consecutive double-double and the Gamecocks claimed the outright SEC championship.

Emotions were running high for Texas A&M. Prior to the game, the Aggies honored Hall of Fame coach Gary Blair, who led the Aggies to their only national championship. Blair is retiring after the season, and this was his final home game. The court was officially renamed in his honor, plus it was also Senior Night.

Those emotions carried over to the game – for about three minutes. The Aggies came out aggressive and jumped to a 4-0 lead as South Carolina missed its first four shots. So the Gamecocks went inside to Boston, who converted a three-point play. That was all the Gamecocks needed. They outscored the Aggies 13-2 over the next four minutes and the rout was on.

Texas A&M was able to frustrate South Carolina for short stretches, but never for long. South Carolina repeatedly got the ball inside, either by posting its bigs or dribble penetration by the guards. South Carolina scored 48 points in the paint, had a 49-31 rebounding advantage, scored 17 second chance points, and attempted twice as many free throws.

“I thought we played one of the most complete games that we’ve played all season long, top to bottom,” Dawn Staley said.

Destanni Henderson had 17 points, with 10 coming on layups. But the night belonged to Boston. A scorgin outburst in the third quarter got her to 18 points, and she got her tenth rebound by grabbing her own missed layup. And she showed a sense of timing. When SEC commissioner Greg Sankey was asked on the broadcast who the player of the year was, Boston drained a shot from behind the arc and Sankey quipped, “She just hit a three.” 

WBB: Boston sets double-double record

Boston’s record was a team effort. According to Staley, at one point Brea Beal was in position for a rebound, but she backed off so Boston could grab it.

“That is the type of friendship and teammates they are,” Staley said. “No one wanted her to get it more than her sisters. I’m super proud they get a chance to share and laugh about a moment they had.”

South Carolina shot 53.1% for the game and assisted on 22 of 34 baskets. The 89 points scored were a season-high for the Gamecocks. The Gamecocks’ defense was sensational. They held the Aggies to 30.0% shooting and forced 13 turnovers. The Aggies had just 31 points going into the fourth quarter, when the Gamecocks emptied the bench and the Aggies were able to pad the offensive numbers (17 points on 46.2% shooting).

“We didn’t have lapses on either side of the basketball,” Staley said. “Turnovers came few and far between. We were locked in defensively. We made it hard for them to score, we made it difficult for them to get rebounds because we were so efficient.”

WBB Analysis: Texas A&M

South Carolina clinched a share of the regular season championship and the top seed in the SEC tournament with the win over Tennessee Sunday. The win Thursday gave South Carolina the outright championship. It is the sixth regular season championship in nine seasons for the Gamecocks.

Notes:

Staley and Blair had a long conversation after the game. Staley said, “I just told him thank you. Thank you for all he’s meant to women’s basketball.” Assistant coach Jolette Law also spoke with Blair. … South Carolina had two turnovers in the first three minutes, and didn’t commit another one until the fourth quarter. The Gamecocks finished with seven turnovers. … LeLe Grissett had 11 points off the bench. … Victoria Saxton had a career-high five assists. … Beal had seven points and eight rebounds. … All 15 Gamecocks played. Everyone except Olivia Thompson and Elysa Wesolek scored. … South Carolina had 18 points off turnovers. … Announced attendance was 5,883. … South Carolina’s next game is the season finale at Ole Miss on Sunday.