South Carolina’s ‘Freshies,’ with eyes on a repeat, let home finale marinate

Senior guard Zia Cooke was showered in fourth-quarter applause as she headed to the South Carolina bench in the Gamecocks’ 76-45 second-round NCAA Tournament win over South Florida.

Cooke, who scored 21 points on Sunday, circled Colonial Life Arena after the game and greeted as many Gamecock fans as possible to show her appreciation.

She found her parents, who flew in from Toledo to watch the game, near the Gamecocks’ tunnel. As she hugged them, Cooke soaked in the moments of her final college basketball game in Columbia — something she and her teammates did their best not to harp on before Sunday.

“After the game, for sure,” Cooke said. “But I don’t try to get too emotional, because I just feel like we have to stand on business right now. So that’s all I’m worried about.”

Cooke was part of the Gamecocks’ 2019 recruiting class, known as the “Freshies,” with Aliyah Boston, Brea Beal, Laeticia Amihere and Olivia Thompson.

They were all honored three weeks earlier as part of the program’s Senior Day held before USC’s final regular-season game. On Sunday, with USC an NCAA Tournament host, the seniors didn’t make this Colonial Life Arena finale a point of emphasis. They hardly talked about it over the weekend, though they knew it was coming.

Their goal to win a national championship continues to be the prevailing task on their to-do list, perhaps the only one. The season’s progression has granted South Carolina three All-SEC selections and two All-American players on its roster, along with an undefeated record.

“I think when we win a national championship, then they’ll understand the season is over,” redshirt freshman guard Raven Johnson said. “But right now, I don’t think they’re really keyed into that.”

As a group, the team lost just one game in Columbia, with three undefeated seasons at home. Among the most memorable of those victories came against UConn in 2020, the first win against the Huskies in program history. Boston, Beal and Cooke were starters in that game.

“It allowed us to open the door — that no one that comes in here will get a win on this particular group,” USC head coach Dawn Staley said.

South Florida led briefly in the first half Sunday and trailed by four points at halftime. Then South Carolina, and its fans, came alive in the second half. USC outscored South Florida 19-7 in the third quarter and 24-9 in the final frame.

The crowd saw Cooke out-hustle a Bulls player in the back-court to recover a loose ball and quickly get an and-1 layup, a play that made the building’s decibel count skyrocket.

“Compartmentalize” is a word Staley’s often used at South Carolina, and it’s a message that’s stuck with the Class of 2019.

The group often emphasizes the need to think about each opponent as they come. Some of USC’s players don’t even watch other games in the NCAA Tournament.

So the Gamecocks stuck to their principle on Sunday, even with it being the seniors’ home finale.

“During the game, we didn’t really think about it, or even before,” Boston said. “But after the game, we were like, ‘Guys, that was just our last game at CLA as a group.’”

Thompson punctuated the win with an end-of-game 3-pointer, giving the Freshies 49 of South Carolina’s 76 points.

Boston completed her postgame interview with ESPN’s Courtney Lyle and Carolyn Peck, smiling at fans who chanted “One more year!” as she headed to the locker room.

All five of the Freshies have the option of returning to the team for another year because of the COVID-shortened 2019-20 season that granted players an extra season of eligibility.

But with WNBA pursuits being a legitimate possibility, the prevailing indication is that this season it’s the seniors’ last ride together. And they leaves Colonial Life Arena on a high note.

“I’m sure when I officially leave the building, I’m gonna be thinking about how I’m probably not going to come back here, which is a crazy thing to think about,” Beal said. “But it’s a blessing to be able to finish out our last game in front of these fans, and the support we received over the four years.”