No. 5 South Carolina rolls past Duke

South Carolina defeated Duke 89-46 on the night of the Teddy Bear Toss.

What started off as a close, fast paced game turned into a blowout as No. 5 South Carolina beat Duke 89-46 at Colonial Life Arena Thursday night to improve to 11-1 on the year.

Duke (7-4) scored immediately, turning the opening tip into a layup less than 10 seconds into the game. South Carolina answered immediately with a Tyasha Harris three and it looked like the game was going to be a shootout. Both teams would cool down significantly and ended the first quarter by hitting just one of their last eight shots. USC still held a narrow 16- 14 lead.

The Gamecock bench provided a much needed spark in the second quarter and went on a 9-2 run to make it a 25-16 after a three-point play by LeLe Grissett. The Gamecocks went into the halftime break with a 37-19 lead.

USC kept the momentum in the second half, starting with a 6-0 run capped off by a three by Zia Cooke to force a Duke timeout after the lead swelled to 54-23.

Duke committed five turnovers during a three minute stretch in the third quarter while going scoreless during that span and the Gamecocks capitalized by going on a 14-2 run.

It was another balanced scoring night for USC as five different players finished in double figures. Cooke and Grisset led the Gamecocks in scoring with 12 points apiece, followed by Harris with 11. Aliyah Boston and Mikiah Herbert Harrigan and Brea Beal's all finished with 10 points.

 The Gamecocks shot 47 percent from the field and 33 percent from behind the arc in the contest. They held Duke to 31 percent shooting from the field and 27 percent from three.

South Carolina remains at home to take on No. 25 South Dakota this Sunday at noon.