Jaydn James
The Gamecocks win their 40th straight game, continuing to be a threat to every team they face.
Photo from NCAA.
The Lady Gamecocks hosted the South Florida Lady Bulls at Colonial Life Arena in the second round of March Madness. Unsurprisingly, the defending champs maintained their perfect record, dominating the Bulls 76 to 45. The Gamecocks secured their ninth straight appearance in the Sweet 16.
Forward Aliyah Boston shot a jumper assisted by Guard Zia Cooke to get the first points of the game for the Gamecocks. However, the Gamecocks had a rough start to the opening quarter, and trailed at the end of it, making it their seventh time trailing at the end of the first quarter this season.
The Gamecocks finished 36% from the field in the first quarter making the score 16-12 with the Bulls on top.
To start the second quarter Zia Cooke splashed a two-pointer to cut the lead to two, and immediately sprinted to the other end of the court to block Guard Elena Tsineke’s shot attempt.
At halftime, the Gamecocks led South Florida 33-29.
Gamecocks leading scorer Zia Cooke stayed true to her role and contributed to the Gamecocks’ win by shooting 40% from the field and scoring 21 points. The Bulls leading scorer Elena Tsineke scored 20 points and shot 45% from the field.
Cooke and Tsineke were an anticipated matchup before the game, and the anticipation remained true during the game. However, the main differentiator between Cooke and Tsineke came down to team support. Cooke had significant contributions from her teammates to compliment her amazing play, while Tsineke scored nearly half of the total game points on her own.
South Florida Forward Dulcy Fankam Mendjiadeu got into quick trouble picking up her second foul just six minutes into the first quarter. Mendjiadeu averages 16.8 points per game but was held to scoring only four against the Gamecocks.
The South Florida Bulls starting five only scored 40 points, whereas the Gamecocks starting five scored 46. On top of that, the Gamecocks bench picked up 30 points as opposed to the Bulls bench picking up five. The Gamecocks got 55 rebounds and 10 blocks as opposed to South Florida’s 28 rebounds and 7 blocks.
South Florida was held to only seven points in the third quarter, as the quarter ended with a catch-and-shoot 2-pointer by Gamecocks guard Bree Hall who ended the game with seven points and six rebounds.
The Gamecocks outscored South Florida in the third quarter 19-7 with an ending third quarter score of 52-36.
The Gamecocks began the fourth quarter with a total of 21 offensive rebounds and continued dominating on every side of the court.
South Florida got their first points of the fourth quarter with a jumper by Marina Asensio after an 8:06 run by the Gamecocks. The jumper by Asensio cut the lead to 20, but immediately after the shot, Zia Cooke responded with a three-pointer making the score 61-38. Each attempt by the Bulls was too little too late, and the Gamecocks took note of that and began to sub their starters out with a few minutes left in the fourth.
Aliyah Boston finished her final home game with her 81st career double-double, as she exited the game with 11 points and 11 rebounds. The game ended with a three-pointer from Freshman Olivia Thompson, officially advancing the Gamecocks to their ninth straight sweet 16. The number one women’s basketball team improves to 34-0 on the season and will now await to see who they will face in the next round of the tournament.
Rayning Content 