Boston, Gamecocks Rout The Missouri Tigers
Dawn Staley's Gamecocks went back and forth with the Missouri Tigers in the first ten minutes as both teams traded shots differently. As the game progressed, however, the Tigers' offensive strategy proved not sustainable, while the Gamecocks both relied on their usual ways of scoring and presented challenges away from the basket.
At the start of the game, South Carolina scored four of their first five baskets from the mid-range, an area of the floor that's rarely utilized by the Gamecocks' offense. The Tigers, however, were able to hold serve, so to speak, as they hit four three-pointers in the same stretch by running screen action plays that looked to get their guards more space against Carolina's athletic and aggressive backcourt.
In the second quarter, Staley and her staff made the proper adjustments, instructing South Carolina's guards to fight over the screens instead of going behind Missouri's forwards, who were setting the picks. This minor change threw the Tigers' offense entirely out of sync, as they would make only three of their eleven shots in the period.
On the other end of the floor, the Gamecocks stretched the floor both inside and out, as South Carolina imposed their will in their paint by driving to the basket, corralling their own misses due to the positioning of Aliyah Boston, while both Zia Cooke and Raven Johnson hit shots from behind the arc.
The second-quarter outburst led to the Gamecocks possessing a 19-point lead heading into the break. In the second half, South Carolina would continue to pull away as the Tigers began to see fouls pile up for their front-court players and struggled to establish any presence on the glass. These obvious trends lead to the Gamecocks continuing to get the ball inside by either getting it to the low block or driving to the basket through their guards, who found consistent success in getting past the Tigers' backcourt.
Boston secured her 71st career double-double on Sunday, one shy of tying the record at South Carolina. The team will retake the floor on Thursday when they go on the road to take on the Vanderbilt Commodores.
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