COLUMBIA, S.C. — No. 1 South Carolina's women’s basketball team succeeded Tuesday in its toughest challenge of the season, defeating the No. 2 Stanford Cardinal, 65-61, in Colonial Life Arena.
An Aliyah Boston go-ahead jumper with just over one minute to go sealed the victory for the Gamecocks as they escaped their home court with a win over the team that led the contest by 18 points in the first half.
Boston led the Gamecocks with 18 points in the victory and earned redemption from last year’s single-digit loss to Stanford in the NCAA Final Four with her go-ahead score. Stanford’s Lexie Hull scored 17 points, while Francesca Belibi added 12 points off the bench for the Cardinal.
The Gamecocks are now the first team since Baylor in 2011-12 to win multiple regular season matchups between No. 1 and No. 2 teams, adding Tuesday’s win to a top-two victory over then-No. 2 UConn in November.
Here’s what we learned about the Gamecocks.
Henderson makes a difference
Henderson hadn’t seen the floor since the first half against North Carolina A&T on Nov. 29, and her return from a leg injury Tuesday night was exactly what the Gamecocks needed.
Henderson played a principle role in the Gamecocks’ third-quarter comeback, in which South Carolina outscored Stanford 22-7 after going into halftime with a 14-point deficit. Henderson grabbed five steals in the third quarter, contributing to South Carolina’s 12 points off Stanford turnovers in that period.
Henderson finished the night playing 31 minutes after Gamecocks coach Dawn Staley told ESPN’s Andraya Carter before the game she wouldn’t be limited. She scored 17 points and added seven assists and seven steals to her stat line Tuesday.
Henderson’s seven fourth-quarter points added to the Gamecocks’ 15-12 advantage in the fourth quarter, sealing the win over Stanford.
The Gamecocks weren’t back to full health against Stanford, however, as LeLe Grissett was not present at the game due to “health and safety protocols,” the school announced about an hour to tip-off.
Massive third quarter lifts Gamecocks
When South Carolina went into halftime with a double-digit deficit, Staley schemed up a third-quarter plan that put her team right back into the game.
The Gamecocks used a 22-7 third period to head into the fourth quarter with a one-point lead.
Stanford committed seven turnovers in the third quarter, which South Carolina turned into 12 points. The Cardinal finished the game with 20 turnovers compared with the Gamecocks’ seven, squashing the Gamecocks’ early turnover troubles.
Gamecocks overcome halftime deficit
South Carolina went into the locker room down by 14 points, its largest halftime deficit in the past three seasons. The Gamecocks shot 28.6% from the field compared to the Cardinal’s 53.1%.
South Carolina had trouble neutralizing the Cardinal from behind the arc, as Stanford made six of its 11 attempts from 3-point range in the first half. Hull scored 14 points on 60% from the field in 11 minutes of the first half.
The Gamecocks were uncharacteristically outrebounded 25-20 in the first half, with only Boston shooting in double figures through the game’s first 20 minutes.
