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FINAL: Gamecocks Sink Pirates, Finish Non-Con Play With 73-36 Win

South Carolina's women's basketball team largely cruised in their matchup against the East Carolina Pirates on Saturday.
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Coming off of an 11-day holiday break, Dawn Staley and South Carolina's women's basketball team came into Saturday afternoon looking to avoid a letdown performance against a scrappy mid-major squad in the East Carolina Pirates. Despite taking a while to get out the starting gate, the Gamecocks wore down the directional school in typical South Carolina fashion, securing a 73-36 victory.

The start of the game went about how one would expect for teams who had long holiday breaks, as the Gamecocks shot 4-15 or 27 percent from the floor in the first quarter, while the Pirates shot 4-17 or 24 percent on their end. The saving grace for South Carolina's shooting woes was the amount of fouls they drew, as East Carolina was called for a whopping eight fouls in the first ten minutes of play, allowing Staley's team to shoot eight free throws, five of which they converted on.

Only up by six with seven minutes left in the first half, the Gamecocks got the offensive spark they were looking for, as Te-Hina Paopao would hit two consecutive three point shots to give Carolina their first double-digit lead on the afternoon. Those two shots would help to kickstart an 18-1 run for the Gamecocks that lasted over a four minute and 56 second long stretch, which gave South Carolina an 18-point lead heading into halftime.

In the second half, the Gamecocks continued to pull away from the Pirates, as they began to convert on their shots in the paint while also drawing more fouls from the Purple and Gold. With Dawn being able to substitute the majority of her bench in the game due to the point differential, eight different South Carolina players scored in the second half.

With the win, the Gamecocks move to 12-0 on the season, and will be back in action on Thursday night when they play their first conference opponent of the season in the Florida Gators.

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