NCAAW: South Carolina Gamecocks escape South Dakota State Jackrabbits

The South Dakota State Jackrabbits lower it to 6 with 6:38 to go, however the No. 1 South Carolina Gamecocks closed with a 15-3 run to win 62-44 Thursday night time at Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

Jackrabbit star Myah Selland scored all 12 of her factors within the second half, together with South Dakota State’s first seven of the fourth quarter. Her three at 7:10 remaining lower it to 47-39; Dru Gylten adopted with two free throws to make it 47-41.

Sanford Pentagon was rocking at that time, however the second was short-lived. South Carolina’s Kierra Fletcher, not referred to as a shooter, was left huge open all night time and buried a deep two at 6:13 remaining to make it 49-41. Brea Beal instantly adopted with a backcourt steal and put in a layup to make it 51-41 within the blink of a watch.

The Jackrabbits (7-5, 0-0 Summit) by no means acquired again inside single digits. On a constructive observe, they held the No. 1 staff within the nation to its second-lowest regulation scoring output of the season. Solely No. 2 Stanford has surrendered fewer factors to the Gamecocks via 4 frames (61).

It was an abysmal taking pictures night time for either side with South Carolina (10-0, 0-0 SEC) taking pictures 34.3 % from the sphere in comparison with South Dakota State’s 27.3 % effort. The Gamecocks had been 2-of-15 from deep, whereas the Jackrabbits had been 1-of-11.

South Carolina’s 14 blocks made the distinction within the win. Beal led the best way with 5, whereas Kamilla Cardoso had 4. The Jackrabbits managed to dam simply three pictures. The high for any team this season is 15, achieved by South Carolina and Troy.

Beal might have been the participant of the sport she added 9 factors, six rebounds, three assists and 6 steals. Cardoso completed with eight factors and 15 rebounds whereas Cooke recorded a game-high 18 factors. Aliyah Boston, sporting Christmas-colored hair, added 12 factors, 9 boards and two rejections.

An 11-2 South Carolina run from the 57-second mark of the primary to 7:36 within the second was key in giving the Gamecocks an early benefit. South Dakota State led 8-7 earlier than the run, which started with an awesome particular person effort by Laeticia Amihere. She astutely poked the ball away close to mid-court because the Jackrabbits had been seeking to make a move and took all of it the best way in for a layup earlier than following that up with a block on the subsequent Jackrabbit possession, which led to a Cooke mid-range make that made it 11-8 Gamecocks after one.

A Boston jumper and a Cooke free throw opened the second to make it 14-8. Then, after a Brooklyn Meyer layup for South Dakota State, Cardoso scored 4 straight factors to go away it at 18-10. South Carolina led by a minimum of 5 for the rest of the sport.

The Gamecocks went from up 9 on the break to gaining their largest lead of the primary 31:29 (15) on the 4:56 mark of the third. That stretch was highlighted by a 6-0 run that featured Fletcher diving for a steal earlier than making a mid-range shot on the following possession and a Beal backcourt steal. Beal made an unbelievable effort to maintain it in bounds and ultimately acquired the ball again for a layup that made it 41-26 South Carolina. The Jackrabbits answered with a 6-0 run of their very own to chop it to 9 getting into the fourth.

The Gamecocks seemed to be pulling away early within the remaining body, with a 47-34 lead on the 8:01 mark, however South Dakota State then went on a 7-0 run capped by Gylten’s free throws.

The Gamecocks had open threes all recreation lengthy and handed lots of them as much as run their offense, which regularly didn’t yield nice outcomes towards a superb Jackrabbit protection. South Dakota State performed off Fletcher, which was no shock, however in addition they left Beal, a more-frequent 3-point shooter, open at occasions, in addition to Boston, who’s a succesful 3-point shooter. South Carolina in all probability wasn’t inspired by the truth that it was lacking many of the threes it did take.