National championships are not won in February, but the atmosphere inside Columbia’s Colonial Life Arena felt very much like a Final Four or national title game.
Indeed a sold out crowd here at Colonial Life Arena as fans are still filing in for the showdown between No. 1 @GamecockWBB and No. 5 @UConnWBB pic.twitter.com/dprcYV1gr1
— Chaunte’l Powell (@chauntelpowell) February 10, 2020
Palmetto State sports fans were fixated on Colonial Life Arena as its hometown South Carolina Gamecocks, the No. 1 team in the country, did battle against Geno Auriemma’s UConn Huskies. The garnet and black faithful was sent home happy as the Gamecocks gained a 70-52 victory over UConn.
Aliyah Boston with the SWAT🚫 pic.twitter.com/Mw5FcpGNHi
— SEC Network (@SECNetwork) February 11, 2020
And then you KNOW we danced! #SCWomanUp | @dawnstaley pic.twitter.com/t2W9EGIziE
— GamecockWBB (@GamecockWBB) February 11, 2020
Got the turnover.
Got the points.
Right back to defense.
That’s our @TyHarris_52! #SCWomanUp pic.twitter.com/6plyBGaiEo— GamecockWBB (@GamecockWBB) February 11, 2020
The Gamecocks jumped out to an 11-2 lead at the conclusion of the first quarter – and Dawn Staley’s team did not look back. While South Carolina this year is, on paper, a better team than UConn, getting over that Husky hump had to be huge for the Gamecocks as a program.
Leading the South Carolina charge was Tyasha Harris who scored 19 points and dished out 11 assists in 40 minutes of play. Zia Cooke scored 15 points in addition to four rebounds. Aliyah Boston tallied 13 points and 12 rebounds for a double-double. Harrigan Herbert chimed in with 10 points and seven boards.
On the UConn end of the ledger, Crystal Dangerfield led all scorers with 28 points. Olivia Nelson-Ododa and Megan Walker each scored 10 points. Nelson-Ododa also contributed nine rebounds to the Husky efforts along with Walker’s eight.
ON🚫#BleedBlue pic.twitter.com/dHOm6DlxOz
— UConn Women’s Hoops (@UConnWBB) February 11, 2020
Squeaks at the buzzer!#BleedBlue pic.twitter.com/PSd6aNvWKD
— UConn Women’s Hoops (@UConnWBB) February 11, 2020
South Carolina hosts Auburn on Tuesday while UConn’s matchup will be on Sunday when they host South Florida.
