Women's Basketball 12/14/2014 8:19:00 PM

Lady Tigers Fall To #1 South Carolina

Box Score

COLUMBIA, S.C. – A quick glance of the numbers from Sunday's nonconference bout with the No. 1 women's basketball team in the nation, South Carolina, revels a blowout by any standard, but the Savannah State women's basketball team have plenty of positive things to take away from 49-111 loss.

At the top of that list is the fact that the Lady Tigers put up more points on the Gamecocks than Clemson (who lost 44-99 to South Carolina), San Diego State (38-89), and Wisconsin (44-67) did this year.

Compared with North Carolina Central, the only other Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) opponent that South Carolina has played this year, SSU lost by a smaller margin.

Savannah State's loss on Sunday came at the hands of a team that is outscoring their opponents by an average of almost 30 points.

Leading the Lady Tigers was redshirt senior Ezinne Kalu, who put up 18 points, shooting at a 50 percent clip from the field. Jasmine Norman followed Kalu in the stats with 9 points, and also shot 50 percent from the field.

South Carolina - who is ranked No. 1 in both the Associated Press and USA Today standings - was led by A'ja Wilson who put up a 23 points. Elem Ibiam followed with 21 points, and Alaina Coates added 20 in the lopsided win.

SSU sophomore Tiyonda Davis scored the first points of the game on a layup after Kalu got a steal on the opposite end. South Carolina answered quickly with a basket from Tiffany Mitchell.

Mitchell gave the Gamecocks their first lead with a 3-pointer moments after her first basket. Norman answered for SSU with a short jumper and Kalu followed with another good jumper to lift SSU to a 6-5 lead three minutes into the game.

A quiet Colonial Life Arena – a crowd of 9,605 – seemed surprised by the Lady Tigers early lead, but South Carolina opened a 6-0 run, for an 11-6 lead with 14:27 to play, that seemed to awaken the fans.

Both teams waned on offense for several minutes, until Coates added two. But, Kalu quickly answered good field goal to keep SSU within five points of the Gamecocks lead.

With 12:01 to play, Wilson drained a basket in the paint, but Bria Dorsey responded with a jump shot. Prior to a media timeout, Bianca Cuevas sank an easy layup to lift South Carolina to a 17-10 lead.

While South Carolina might have come out of the gate passively, they came out of the second media timeout with a renewed vigor that was encapsulated by a stronger and more active defensive. The Gamecocks started a two-man press that forced an array of turnovers for the Lady Tigers.

Behind the costly turnovers, the Gamecocks opened a 20-5 run over the following six minutes for a 36-15 lead with 6:37 to play. Cuevas scored six of the opening points of the run. Cuevas finished with 9 points.

SSU tied their season-high turnover number (20) against South Carolina. They also recorded 20 turnovers against Arkansas.

However, earlier this season against another SEC team, Florida, the Lady Tigers forced 25 turnovers from the Gators, while only committing 8 in the program's first win against an SEC opponent.

The offensive push, and defensive stance, from South Carolina all but sealed the fate of the game. In the final 6 minutes of the first half, the Lady Tigers managed only 7 points, as South Carolina tacked on 24 more for a 60-22 lead at halftime.

The second half saw South Carolina outscore the Lady Tigers 51-27. SSU committed a season-high 31 personal fouls, sending the Gamecocks to the line 47 times. They were successful 34 times, scoring 30 percent of the days points from the charity strip.

SSU falls to 4-3 on the season. They return to the hardwood against their fourth and final SEC opponent, Auburn University. Tip-off on Dec. 19 in Auburn, Ga. Is s set for 6 p.m.

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Players Mentioned

#1 Bria Dorsey: G; 5' 7"; Senior

#4 Jasmine Norman: G; 5' 9"; Senior

#23 Ezinne Kalu: G; 5' 8"; Senior

#44 Tiyonda Davis: C; 6' 2"; Sophomore

Players Mentioned

#1 Bria Dorsey
: 5' 7"; Senior
: G

#4 Jasmine Norman
: 5' 9"; Senior
: G

#23 Ezinne Kalu
: 5' 8"; Senior
: G

#44 Tiyonda Davis
: 6' 2"; Sophomore
: C