Columbia, SC——The Bulldogs of Mississippi State enter Columbia on a sunny winter Sunday afternoon no easy task for the No.1 ranked Gamecocks. Mississippi State brought the reigning SEC player of the week senior guard Darrione Rogers but to no avail for the Lady Gamecocks.
Alongside Rogers Quanriah Montague is the reigning co freshman of the week in the
conference. The Gurad play this season for the Gamecocks has been nothing short of stellar. Bree Hall had 15 points including back-to-back 3-pointers in the third quarter to extend an uncomfortably close margin and help No. 1 South Carolina stay undefeated with an 85-66 victory over Mississippi State on Sunday.
“I thought we did enough to win a basketball game, probably not enough to win the league,” Staley said after South Carolina improved to 14-0 with an 85-66 victory over Mississippi State on Sunday.
“It seemed like it was fun time out there,” Staley continued. “I don’t know, we’ve got to get back to disciplined basketball.”
Kamilla Cardoso added 13 points, 14 rebounds and a team-high six assists, Chloe Kitts and Te-Hina Paopao chipped in 12 points apiece for the Gamecocks (2-0 SEC), who opened 14-0 for a second straight season.
Paopao also led the Gamecocks in minutes played. Showing that her head coach Dawn Staley trusts her and leans on the veteran transfer guard.
Midway through the third quarter with Mississippi State hanging around, down by 10 (54-44). That’s when Hall hit two from long range back-to-back three which the crowd erupted inside the packed house at Colonial Life Arena.
Mississippi State (13-4, 0-2) could not respond and fell to 1-16 all-time against top-ranked opponents. The Bulldogs have always been a troublesome opponent for the Gamecocks and gave the star-laden team of Aliyah Boston and Zia Cooke all they could handle in South Carolina’s 58-51 win a year ago.
It was the same thing early on in this one with the Bulldogs up 19-16 late in the opening period. That’s when South Carolina responded with a 10-2 run to take a lead they would not relinquish on the way to a sixth straight victory in the series.
“We definitely were saying we did not meet the standards today and we will meet them the next day, immediately,” said Bree Hall, a junior in her third season with the Gamecocks.
Jerkaila Jordan led the Bulldogs with 25 points. South Carolina improves to 14-0 on the season.
The Bulldogs went toe-to-toe against the Gamecocks, grabbing 22 offensive rebounds to South Carolina’s 16. Mississippi State also matched their opponent in points in the paint and points off turnovers, something South Carolina has dominated much of the season.
UP NEXT:
Mississippi State: Visits Arkansas on Thursday night.
South Carolina: Visits Missouri on Thursday night.
