For about 37 minutes on Sunday, the South Carolina women's basketball team was poised to pull a HUGE upset against the UT Lady Vols--then, with just a few bad plays (when it matttered the most) their chance disappeared. The Lady Vols prevailed 60-55.

The Gamecocks spent the afternoon on the brink of making history, but a sloppy final 3 minutes doomed them to another loss to the Lady Vols. A loss is a loss, but this was a different kind of game than is usually seen against a highly ranked (#5) team in quite some time; the Gamecocks charged out to a 13-0 lead and were in the game--and in a position to WIN the game--up until less than 30 seconds remained to play. The home fans were thrilled--and LOUD--but (much like the last 10 minutes of the Ole Miss game) nobody was getting TOO excited, waiting for the other shoe to drop. The 13-point lead didn't last, of course. Tennessee made adjustments and made substitutions and worked their way back into the game. At halftime, the Gamecocks held a 1-point lead, 26-25.

The second half was just as close. In fact, the Lady Vols never had the lead until junior guard Angie Bjorklund hit a jumper with 7:53 to play, making the score 48-47. The Gamecocks took the lead right back, but couldn't get ahead more than 3 points, leaving themselves vulnerable to the Lady Vols' legendary late-game heroics. Trailing by 3, USC had the ball with 27 seconds to play and a chance to at least tie the game--perchance, to prolong it?--but the inbounds pass went awry, to be stolen by UT's Alicia Manning. She was immediately fouled by USC's freshman center Kelsey Bone and hit both foul shots, providing the eventual margin of victory. South Carolina had the ball back with 19 seconds left and got off 2 3-point attempts by junior guard Valerie Nainima, but neither would fall. Bjorklund stole the ball with 2 seconds left to seal the victory.

South Carolina's scoring was led by sophomore guard LaKeisha Sutton, who scored 19 points and had 3 assists. She also had 5 turnovers, many of which came as she slashed through the Tennessee zone, taking the ball to the hoop. Early on, that strategy was excellent: the Lady Vols collapsed on the penetrating guard, who passed the ball out to a waiting shooter behind the 3-point line. However, after only a few minutes, Tennessee adjusted to that  tactic and the next few passes wound up in the hands of Bjorklund, who stepped into the passing lane to disrupt the play.

Nainima added 16 for the Gamecocks and Kelsey Bone had 11 points and 6 rebounds. Junior forward Jewel May had 5 rebounds and battled inside; junior point guard Samone Kennedy had only 2 points and 4 rebounds, but she had a game-leading 5 assists, as well.

Freshman guard Kamiko Williams led the Lady Vols with 17 points and 4 assists; sophomore center Kelley Cain also scored in double figures with 10 points and had 4 blocked shots. Sophomore Glory Johnson had a team-leading 9 rebounds.

Fans were subdued after the loss, but hopeful. Some were happy that, because the Gamecocks led for most of the game, Tennessee fans were very quiet for most of the game. Many enjoyed seeing UT head coach Pat Summitt glare daggers at her players, as they struggled against the Gamecocks. Friends who watched the game on TV told me that it didn't look like either the UT fans or players were confident that they would win. Many were just appalled at the way the team seemed to self-destruct at the crucial last moments/situations that decided the game. Personally, I thought it was a great game--with a less than perfect ending. Expectations for this team are about as high as they have ever been for a South Carolina team and they are talented, so there should be high expectations. There should also be an understanding that most of these players are young or inexperienced at Division I basketball--or both. And they are still learning to play together, though that seems to be coming together nicely. Now it is a matter of facing game situations and responding correctly, quickly--hopefully, automatically. That last one didn't happen on Sunday, but it is still something to build on. It was actually a good sign to see the team looking somewhat dejected after the loss, because they KNEW that they had a chance to win this game and didn't make it happen. Let's see what happens, next time.

The Gamecocks travel to Auburn on Thursday night for a rematch with the Tigers. The Gamecocks won the first game 63-49 in Columbia.

 

PS. Apologies for the lateness of this posting, due to some computer issues I'm having. Hopefully, it won't happen again...