South Carolina women's basketball routs Clemson, takes first lead in rivalry series
CLEMSON — South Carolina women's basketball earned its 12th consecutive win over Clemson on Thursday, routing the Tigers, 85-31 at Littlejohn Coliseum.
The Gamecocks (3-0) took their first-ever lead in the all-time series against Clemson (3-1) with the win, now leading 34-33. When coach Dawn Staley took over the program in 2008, South Carolina trailed 32-21.
The play of the game came from 6-foot-3 freshman Ashlyn Watkins, who threw down the first dunk in program history late in the fourth quarter on a fast break. Watkins finished with 12 points, her first time scoring in double digits in her college career.
In the midst of a four-game road trip, No. 1 South Carolina now turns its attention to arguably its biggest game of the regular season at No. 2 Stanford on Sunday (3 p.m., ABC). The Gamecocks have won two of their last three matchups with the Cardinal.
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Gamecocks have big night beyond arc
Entering the matchup with the Tigers, the Gamecocks were shooting just 27.5% from beyond the 3-point arc. In the rivalry victory they went 7-for-12, led by senior guard Zia Cooke shooting 3-for-4. At halftime, the team was 5-for-5 on 3-pointers.
Senior forward Victaria Saxton also scored her first career 3-pointer on her third career attempt, sinking a buzzer-beater at the end of the first half.
"(Saxton) has been shooting them for a couple years now and she's very capable of hitting 3s," Staley said. "She's just so unselfish that she probably thinks it's a selfish decision to shoot a 3 because that's a job for someone else ... but she has to show some of the pro scouts that she can do it because you've got to be able to score on the next level, and we're putting her in a position to do that."
It was an excellent shooting night all around for South Carolina, which finished 59.3% from the field and 70% from the free throw line. Cooke, who was the Gamecocks' leading scorer with 15 points, went 5-for-6 from the field.
Clemson defense proves tricky
The Tigers entered with a clear game plan for handling South Carolina's depth defensively, and it was a simple one: very tight man coverage. The Gamecocks entered the game averaging 91 points per game and, even shooting better than usual, the Tigers held them under that average.
"They played us a lot differently than we've seen in a long time pressuring us, so I thought we had to adjust to that," Staley said. "We're so used to people sagging on us that we had to figure out a way to jolt ourselves into being pressured that way ... They got under our skin and played aggressively. I thought at times we just didn't make the right basketball decisions."
Clemson played especially tight on the post, dropping double and triple teams on star forward Aliyah Boston and center Kamilla Cardoso as often as they could. Still, Boston came away with 12 points, the third-highest total on the team, in just 19 minutes on the court.
South Carolina's biggest issue against the coverage was turnovers: They gave the ball up 20 times, and 12 different players recorded turnovers, but Clemson rarely managed to capitalize with just nine points off turnovers. The Tigers finished with 11 steals and five blocks.
Rebounding dominance makes difference
With South Carolina's size, rebounding has always been a strength, and that shined through against the Tigers. Five Gamecocks recorded four or more rebounds, led by senior guard Brea Beal with seven and followed closely by Boston with six.
The margin on defensive rebounds was particularly stark, with the Gamecocks leading Clemson 27-12. They held the Tigers to single-digit points in every quarter after the first, including five points in the second. Offensively, South Carolina logged 14 offensive rebounds to Clemson's 11 and scored 14 second-chance points.
This article originally appeared on Greenville News: South Carolina women's basketball routs Clemson to lead all-time series
