Columbia S.C.—-No. 1 South Carolina defeated Alabama 72-44 Thursday at Colonial Life Arena. The victory marked career win No. 600 for coach Dawn Staley and clinched the Gamecocks’ eighth SEC regular-season title. The Gamecocks appear to be an unarguable dynasty of the SEC. South Carolina are SEC royalty, having officially surpassed the Georgia Bulldogs (seven) for the second most regular-season titles in conference history.
Only Tennessee has more (18). The win also secured the No. 1 seed for South Carolina in next month’s conference tournament. The Gamecocks, which technically own a share of the regular-season title, can win it outright with one more SEC win or a loss by LSU.
“We lost seven people, that’s a lot of people to lose especially off a good season” and a third straight Final Four, Ashlyn Watkins said. “We didn’t expect to be this good, but once we saw that we were this good, we never looked back.”
South Carolina started guards Te-Hina Paopao, Bree Hall, Raven Johnson, along with forwards Chloe Kitts and Ashlyn Watkins. Starting center Kamilla Cardoso did not participate in Thursday’s game so she could rest, the Gamecocks announced during warm-ups. Cardoso missed South Carolina’s games versus Missouri and UConn earlier this month for an Olympic Qualifying Tournament with the Brazil basketball team.
While in her home country for the event, Cardoso played in three games. Two days after arriving back in Columbia, Cardoso led USC to a hard-fought win over Tennessee. Prior to that game, coach Dawn Staley said her star center may be a bit of a minute’s restriction. Instead, she got her rest Thursday night.
The Gamecocks’ offense stepped on the gas early and they pulled away with a 22-5 run in the second quarter and never looked back.
Four South Carolina players scored in double digits against Alabama: Watkins (14), Hall (13), Sania Feagin (10) and Tessa Johnson (12). South Carolina’s defense overwhelmed Alabama’s from tip-off. The Crimson Tide managed 11 points by intermission, which marked the fewest points the Gamecocks have allowed in an SEC game all season. Alabama connected on five of 32 shot attempts in the first two quarters.
USC also had seven blocks by halftime, with all but three players swatting at least one shot and Watkins swatting two. Senior Guard Te-hina Paopao even joined the party with a blocked shot of her own in the paint during the first half. The Gamecocks also finished with 12 blocks, nine steals and 47 rebounds (31 defensive).
Jessica Timmons led Alabama with 20 points as its leading scorer, Sarah Ashlee Barker, was hurt and held to four points, 13 points below her average.
Ashlyn Watkins made her fifth start for the Gamecocks on Thursday night in place of of Cardoso, who was rested to overcome lingering soreness. As in her previous four starts, Watkins did not disappoint. The sophomore scored 14 points and snagged 10 rebounds and blocked three shots, leading the team in the first two stats. It marked her seventh double-double of the season. Another big performance out of a player determined to win the conference’s Sixth Woman of the Year Award.
NEXT UP:
South Carolina will travel to Lexington to take on the Wildcats. The contest will take place Sunday February 25th at 3pm.
