South Carolina Pulls Away Late In 77-61 Victory Over Duke
Dawn Staley and her No. 1 South Carolina Gamecocks came into Sunday looking to leave the state of North Carolina with wins over two of the best teams in the ACC. Although it was another game that involved plenty of sloppy stretches, they strung together enough good possessions late to exit Cameron Indoor Stadium with a 77-61 win over the Duke Blue Devils.
At the start of the game, it was practically a derby race between both teams, as Duke shot 57.14 percent on their end while the Gamecocks shot 80 percent from the field in the first five minutes and twenty-two seconds of action. While South Carolina would continue to hit the shots they were putting up, early turnovers, which were an issue against North Carolina, were committed at a high frequency once again, with the players in black coughing up the basketball seven times in just the first quarter, leading to Duke exiting the first quarter with a two-point advantage.
In the second quarter, the Gamecocks continued to emphasize getting the ball in the paint are through screen actions inside the arc and running their rotations efficiently. However, unlike the first quarter, Duke's defenders began keying in on this strategy much more effectively, which forced Carolina to take more jumpers from outside the three-point line. Throw in another seven turnovers, and the Gamecocks founds themselves with only a six-point lead heading into the halftime break.
In the third quarter, it was a game of runs. South Carolina was the first team to get things going, going on a 12-0 run between the 9:33 and 6:21 mark to give themselves a 15-point lead. The Blue Devils, however, refused to go away, as they would go on an 11-1 run of their own to end the quarter, which included three 3-pointers, to cut the Gamecock lead down to three points.
To start the final period, both teams struggled to score, as no one hit a jumpshot until the 7:43 mark. Carrying just a six-point lead into the final media timeout, Kamilla Cardoso would go into takeover mode for South Carolina's, scoring seven straight points for the Gamecocks to extend their lead out to thirteen points, a deficit Duke simply couldn't overcome.
Kamilla Cardoso working to create space for herself underneath the basket against South Dakota State (20th Nov., 2023)
Jeff Blake | USA Today Network
The win brings South Carolina to 7-0, and they'll be back home on Wednesday when they take on Morgan State.
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