WBB: South Carolina beats Georgia 61-51
Photo Gallery by Chris Gillespie
South Carolina beat Georgia 61-51 Thursday night at Colonial Life Arena to clinch outright its third straight SEC championship. Tiffany Mitchell led South Carolina with 19 points.
The win gave South Carolina the outright SEC title and kept alive the pursuit of a perfect conference record. USC head coach Dawn Staley said yesterday her goal for the rest of the regular season was the pursuit of discipline, not the pursuit of the 16-0 record. Thursday night's game gave her plenty of ammunition.
The game was frequently ugly and often sloppy, but the Gamecocks took care of business against a lesser opponent. The Gamecocks played only seven players due to injuries, illness, and coach's decision, and the Bulldogs turned what looked like a blowout into a nail biter. Khadijah Sessions and Dawn Staley admitted after the game that fatigue is starting to take a toll on the Gamecocks.
"It's February, everybody's played a lot of games," Sessions said. "If you want to win a National Championship you've got to push through."
"I think our players are mentally drained, but we have to find a way to dig deep and rest up and finish the season strong," Staley said.
South Carolina spent most of the game in a 2-3 zone, and it had Georgia flummoxed. Georgia shot 21 percent from the floor in the first half, and 36 percent for the game. It committed 21 turnovers that led to 19 South Carolina points.
"We got some open looks that we didn't hit, but when you've got trees inside sometimes you see ghosts," Georgia head coach Joni Taylor said. "We can't turn the ball over 21 times against a team like South Carolina and expect to win."
Despite that, South Carolina never got going offensively. A'ja Wilson and Alaina Coates struggled to get the ball in the post, and without the inside game South Carolina's offense struggled with consistency. With Georgia unable to score, and thanks to another buzzer-beating three by Khadijah Sessions, South Carolina still took a 27-13 lead into the halftime break. Then a 9-0 run to end the third quarter stretched the lead to 16, and USC appeared to be on cruise control.
The short bench started to take its toll in the fourth quarter. With Wilson, Coates and Sarah Imovbioh having to worry about fouls, they could not be as aggressive on defense. Georgia started to figure out how to attack the zone and put together a 15-4 run to draw within five points with 2:29 left to play. That was as close as Georgia would get.
"When you do that, teams settle down and pick it apart a little bit," Staley said. "Over a 40-minute period it was probably too much zone, but at that point we had to protect our players because several of them were in foul trouble."
Mitchell drove the baseline, drawing contact and banking in a runner. Neither team scored on its next possession, and the Gamecocks called timeout to set up a play with 1:39 left. Tina Roy got an open look, but her three rimmed out. Shacobia Barbee snared the rebound, but Sessions quickly swiped the ball and fed Wilson for a layup. The rest of the game was a parade to the free throw line, and the Gamecocks hit just enough, 7-14, to seal the win.
"They had all the momentum going their way," Mitchell said. "D's steal took the air out of them."
Mitchell made 7-8 free throws on her way to 19 points. She also had four assists, four rebounds, and three steals. Wilson had a tough 16 points and also had nine rebounds, and Coates had eight. It was the first SEC game this season that Coates did not hit double figures rebounding. Sessions scored 13 points for the second straight game, tying her season high, and a career-high six steals.
"I knew we had to come out aggressive," Sessions said. "When you play zone you have to be active."
Notes:
South Carolina clinched the outright title against Georgia, the same team it clinched its first title against two years ago. ... The game was South Carolina's annual Play 4 Kay game. The team wore pink warmup shirts and uniforms. ... Eli the Bear got into the spirit with a pink t-shirt of his own. Injured Tiffany Davis, who bear-sits Eli during games, made the shirt. ... Jatarie White was sick and did not dress for the game. ... Asia Dozier missed her fifth straight game with a right hand injury. ... Bianca Cuevas did not play due to a coach's decision. Staley did not offer any more details, but said Cuevas should play in the next game. ... Sessions missed a buzzer-beater to end the third quarter. ... South Carolina shot 27 free throws. Georgia only attempted six. ... South Carolina had a 39-34 rebounding edge. ... Joni Taylor is married to former Gamecock assistant coach Darius Taylor. She said Darius did not offer her any inside information on the Gamecocks. "That rule is the same as it was when he was here. We don't talk about it," Joni said. "There's no secrets" in league play anyway, she added. ... After the game, Ray Tanner and Dr. Harris Pastides recognized the Gamecocks for the SEC championship. They posed for photos with last year's trophy. ... Attendance was 16,186. ... South Carolina returns to action Monday night against Alabama.
