WBB: Gamecocks tame the Gators 86-71
Photo Gallery by Chris Gillespie
South Carolina bounced back from its first loss of the season with an 86-71 win over Florida Thursday night at Colonial Life Arena. Alaina Coates scored 14 points along with 11 rebounds, and was the best player on the court down the stretch.
There was a noticeable hangover during the game. There was a lack of energy from the Gamecocks, who seemed to be more interested in getting the game over with than finishing off the win, and the crowd, which was smaller than normal and, perhaps weary from a third game in four nights, not as effusive as has come to be expected at Colonial Life Arena.
That being said, South Carolina got the win, stayed undefeated in the SEC, and defeated the 16th-ranked team in the country in the process.
"There's some residual feelings of losing and how we lost and wanting to play better," Dawn Staley said. "That's natural."
The game was sloppy from the start, with both teams turning the ball over on two of the first three possessions. South Carolina led 19-16 after the first quarter and then dominated the second quarter. It went on a 16-0 to start the second, as Florida missed all nine shots during the span, turned the ball over five times, and went scoreless for nearly seven minutes.
"We got easy looks," Tiffany Mitchell said. "We turned our defense into offense and got out in transition."
"We just couldn't score," Florida coach Amanda Butler said. "We weren't being aggressive enough. That second (quarter) was just not us."
Having taken a 19-point lead, the Gamecocks seemed to relax. The Gators cut the lead to 12 at halftime, and then scored the first four points of the second half to complete a 14-4 run that cut the lead to eight.
A'ja Wilson responded with a layup, and the Doniyah Cliney, who made her first career start, made a steal and scored a layup. Mitchell, who led the Gamecocks with 22 points, added a three in transition, and after a three by Eleanna Christinaki, Coates and Mitchell scored on layups to complete an 11-3 run. Once again, the Gamecocks let up, and the Gators scored the final six points of the third quarter to go into the fourth down ten.
The fourth quarter was all about Coates. As the fatigue grew for South Carolina, and Florida kept chipping away, Coates was the best player on the court. She opened the fourth quarter with a layup and followed it with a rebound. Coates scored six of South Carolina's first ten points of the quarter as Florida frantically tried to come back. She added three rebounds, two assists, and a steal, along with several defensive plays that don't show up on a stat sheet as South Carolina eventually stretched the lead to 20 in the waning minutes.
Florida kept the game close thanks to its defense. It played a full court press with a 2-3 zone in the half court, and South Carolina struggled to stay focused enough to find the week spots.
"We didn't handle their pressure up front," Staley said. "No one's ever played us full court so it was unfamiliar to us. We didn't have as much chance to work on it with the short week."
The zone kept the ball out of the hands of Coates and Wilson for much of the game, until the Gamecocks made a more concerted effort to get them the ball in the second half. Coates score eight of her 14 in the second half, and Wilson finished with 13 points, nine rebounds, and four blocks.
"We tried to skip the ball and get the zone moving and find them the best we could," Mitchell said.
In her first start, Cliney scored a career-high 10 points. However, she also committed seven turnovers.
"We're really hard on her in practice because she doesn't have any game experience," Staley said. "She gives us something different with her court vision and her athleticism."
Cliney said she knew with Asia Dozier out with a hand injury that this is her opportunity to earn playing time and make an impact.
"I have a big role to play now that we're down a player," Cliney said.
Notes:
Earlier on Thursday, three Gamecocks were named to the Naismith Trophy Midseason Watch List. Mitchell, Coates, and Wilson were among the 34 players named to the list, and South Carolina was one of only two schools with three players on the list. ... Mitchell was also named to the CoSIDA Academic All-District first team on Thursday. Georgia's Marjorie Butler, Auburn's Katie Frerking, and Taylor Reece of Samford and Stephanie Haas of Florida Gulf Coast were also named to the team. ... With Cliney getting the start, Tina Roy returned to the bench. Roy had started the last two games in place of Dozier, but has played better off the bench than as a starter. Cliney also started the second half against Connecticut. ... Carla Batchelor led Florida with 19 points, all but two in the second half. ... Eli the Bear attended the postgame press conference. He was not asked any questions, although according to Mitchell he walked into the media room on his own, which was a first. ... The win was the 350th of Staley's career. "There have been some special ones in there," she said, "but the biggest is yet to come." ... During the game, Coates surpassed 800 rebounds for her career. She become just the second Gamecocks to notch 1,000 points and 800 rebounds before her senior season, and the tenth player overall. ... Attendance was 13,324. ... South Carolina returns to action Monday night against Tennessee. With a win, South Carolina will clinch at least a share of the SEC regular season title.
