Gamecocks fall in heartbreaker
Just before time expired, Ieasia Walker hoisted a clean 3-point shot that would have given the Gamecocks the win. Unfortunately for South Carolina, the shot just missed, and Georgia escaped the Colonial Life Arena with a 61-59 victory.
“I just got the ball in the backcourt, tried to get it up,” Walker said. “I wanted to get a clean look at a shot. I had enough time to get a good shot off, it just fell short. I should have put more air under it.”
After a back-and-forth second half where Georgia pulled ahead by as many as eight points, South Carolina managed to come back and tie the game as La’Keisha Sutton and Walker both made pairs of free throws with under a minute to go.
With all the momentum on their side, a foul to give and 12 seconds left on the clock, all the Gamecocks needed was one more defensive stand to force overtime. With 4.8 seconds left, Georgia’s Anne Marie Armstrong pulled up for a jumper and appeared to be blocked by Sancheon White, though to the dismay of USC players, coaches and fans alike, a shooting foul was called. Armstrong hit nothing but net on both shots.
“We thought it was clean, but the refs made the call, so you’ve got to respect the call,” Walker said.
Sutton downplayed the foul as a key moment, saying, “That one play doesn’t determine us losing a game. We win together and lose together. We can’t use that one play as an excuse.”
Coach Dawn Staley seconded the notion that the refs call wasn’t the reason for the loss, instead looking to her own team’s positioning and late game tactics.
“We had a foul to give, so we shouldn’t have put ourselves in that situation to even have it come that close and put in somebody else’s hands,” Staley said. “At that point, we’d tied the game up, we just needed a stop — an opportunity to keep the defense in front of us and we didn’t do that.
Early in the game, it looked like the Gamecocks might just shoot their way to a blowout victory. After two minutes of scoreless play, the Gamecocks’ found their shooting touch when on three consecutive possessions, senior Markeshia Grant nailed two 3-pointers, followed by a third from Sutton on their way to an 11-2 lead.
While the deep shots went in early, the Gamecocks got greedy, ultimately taking 23 shots from long range and only making six. Coach Staley knew the shots wouldn’t fall forever, but commended her team for their aggressive play on the perimeter.
“We knew that we took over half our attempts from 3, and we knew that we would cool off some in the second half,” Staley said. “I thought we did a pretty good job of putting them on their heels. We were in the bonus with eight minutes left in pretty good shape.”
Sutton looked like she was on pace to have a career night after putting up 16 points in the first half on 6-10 shooting. While the majority of the Gamecocks’ scoring came from their guards, Georgia earned the victory through their dominance in the post. The Bulldogs outscored South Carolina 38-20 in the paint, led by Jasmine Hassell, who put up 18 points on 8-13 shooting.
“We had problems with Jasmine Hassel tonight,” Staley said. “She got too deep on us, and we can’t compare with post players that have two feet in the paint and we’re giving up several inches. I though she did a tremendous job in making us pay.”
With only three games remaining in the regular season, the Gamecocks need to make a strong impression down the stretch if they want to secure a spot in the NCAA tournament. Staley didn’t address the implications that a loss like this might have on their chances of making the cut, but she made it no secret that she wants her team to get there.
“We’re just going to keep scratching and clawing to get as many wins as possible,” Staley said. “We just want to get in. We just want to get in. I think once we get in, we won’t see a Georgia or a Kentucky. We’ll see a different team that doesn’t know us as much, so we’ve just got to continue to take care of the things that we can take care of. Right now, that’s Alabama.”