Harris breaks assists record in Gamecocks' win over UGA
ATHENS, Ga. (AP) Aliyah Boston scored 15 points and No. 1 South Carolina rode a strong first quarter to its 13th consecutive win, beating Georgia 88-53 on Sunday.
Destanni Henderson had 14 points for South Carolina (19-1, 7-0). Boston had four of the Gamecocks' 11 steals. Tyasha Harris added 13 points and seven assists.
Stephanie Paul led Georgia (12-8, 3-4) with 13 points.
South Carolina used its dominant defense to grab control early.
After Georgia's Jenna Staiti scored the game's first points, the Gamecocks' 14-0 run left the Lady Bulldogs with double-digit deficits the remainder of the game. Harris sank a 3-pointer and added another jumper as the bookend baskets of the run.
South Carolina had seven steals in taking a 28-8 lead at the end of the opening period. Many of the forced turnovers followed Georgia's attempts to pass the ball inside. The Lady Bulldogs made only 3 of 13 shots from the field in the opening period.
Gabby Connally's third 3-pointer of the second period helped Georgia trim the South Carolina lead to 13 points at 34-21. The Gamecocks stretched the lead to 26 points in the third period.
Connally had 11 points and nine assists.
GAMECHANGER
After Georgia scored the game's opening points, Carolina went on a 14-0 run to take control of the game, eventually taking a 28-8 lead into the second quarter.
KEY STAT
The Gamecocks dominated the post on Sunday outscoring Georgia 50-22 in the paint and controlled the pace of the game, out-scoring the Lady Bulldogs 20-9 in fastbreak points.
NOTABLES
With her sixth assist of the night in the third quarter, Tyasha Harris became South Carolina's all-time leader in career assists, passing Cristina Ciocan's total of 615. Harris finished with 13 points, seven assists and three rebounds. The senior has 617 career assists.
The Gamecocks finished with five in double-figures for the 12th time this season.
South Carolina shot 60.3 percent from the field (35-of-58), its second-highest percentage of the season. Both games of at least 60.0 percent shooting came in the SEC.
Carolina held Georgia to eight points in the first quarter, the ninth time the Gamecocks have held an opponent to single digits in the opening quarter this season, and the fourth time in conference play.
The Gamecocks are 19-1 to start a season for the first time since the 2016-17 season, which started with the same record.
Aliyah Boston led all scorers with 15 points. She added six rebounds and a career-high four steals.
Destanni Henderson rattled off six points in the fourth to finish with 14 for the game to go along with her six rebounds and six assists.
LeLe Grissett scored 11 points, all in the fourth quarter, her highest total in SEC play this season.
UP NEXT
The Gamecocks travel to Oxford, Miss., for a showdown with Ole Miss on Thursday. Tipoff is set for 8 p.m. ET with the game airing on SEC Network+.