Andy Landers’s Lady Dogs arrived in Columbia on Thursday evening sporting a top 25 ranking and a 16-3 record that included a sparkling 6-0 mark in conference play. South Carolina, by contrast, fielded a women’s basketball team with an anemic 11-9 ledger than included a 3-4 mark against SEC foes. The home team nevertheless succeeded in pulling off the upset to hand the Red and Black their first league loss.
An early 6-1 lead for the visitors evaporated, and the Gamecocks held a 25-23 edge at intermission. Even though the Bulldogs dominated inside, outscoring the home team 28-16 in the paint, the Garnet and Black gals matched their guests shot for shot to maintain their lead during the second half. The contest ended in a 57-48 Gamecock victory.
The South Carolinians turned 16 Georgia turnovers into eleven points, while the Gamecock bench outscored the Red and Black reserves by a commanding 26-6 margin. Although the Lady Dogs’ 34.5 per cent shooting from the field (20 of 58) matched almost exactly South Carolina’s 34.6 per cent field goal shooting (18 of 52), the Garnet and Black drained eight of 21 three-point attempts as the ice-cold Athenians failed to score on any of their seven tries from beyond the arc.
Neither team earned many second chances, with the South Carolina defense out-rebounding the Georgia offense 25-13 and the Bulldog D pulling down 22 boards to the Gamecock O’s eleven. Both clubs shot just over 72 per cent from the charity stripe, but the home team was afforded the opportunity to shoot 18 free throws and the visitors were allowed to attempt just eleven.
Go ‘Dawgs!