#1 South Carolina shuts down South Dakota State

South Carolina Women’s Basketball: News • Recruiting • Schedule • Roster • Stats • SEC Standings • NCAA Polls • Scholarship Chart

#1 South Carolina overcame poor shooting early in the game to pull away from South Dakota State for a 78-38 win.

South Carolina dominated the last five minutes of the first half and the first five minutes of the second half to take control of an otherwise tightly contested game. South Carolina outscored South Dakota State 15-4 in the second quarter to take a 36-22 halftime lead.

The Gamecocks started the third on a 19-4 run to go up 55-26 and turn the game into a blowout.

The Jackrabbits’ swarming, collapsing defense frustrated the Gamecocks a season ago. The Gamecocks improved their shooting in the offseason, but two of their top shooters, Te-Hina Paopao and Tessa Johnson, missed the game with ankle injuries.

That left South Carolina with just nine available players and two guards. Despite this, when South Dakota State packed in the defense against Kamilla Cardoso, South Carolina was content to launch threes.

The Gamecocks were 0-5 from three in the first quarter and shot just 8-28 overall. They did not hit their first jump shot until Chloe Kitts hit a 15-footer with 5:33 left in the second quarter. At that point, the Gamecocks were 9-15 on layups and 1-20 on jump shots.

Kamilla Cardoso had her third double double of the season with 23 points and 10 rebounds. She shot 8-12 from the floor and 7-8 from the line, and even when the Jackrabbits tried to swarm her the couldn’t counter Cardoso’s height advantage.

One game after dishing out a career-high 17 assists, Raven Johnson scored a career-high 18 points. She also had six assists and five steals. She scored ten of her points during the 34-8 run, converting turnovers into baskets.

This is a developing story. Stay with GamecockCentral for continuing coverage...