The Gamecocks were eliminated from the NCAA Tournament on Friday night, falling to the Syracuse Orange 80-72.
South Carolina entered the game with a 33-1 record, with its only loss against the three-time reigning champion University of Connecticut Huskies. The much-anticipated rematch between the two teams was practically penciled in for the NCAA Championship, but Gamecock fans will have to wait until next year.
Syracuse led for the entire first quarter, but despite poor shooting, South Carolina managed to keep the game close headed into the second quarter.
South Carolina took its first lead of the game at the 7:07 mark on a momentum shifting three-pointer from senior guard Tina Roy. From that point forward, the Gamecocks outscored the Orange 23-13 in the quarter, behind 14 points from Roy during that stretch. Roy finished the half with 17 points, shooting 5-7 from three leading South Carolina to a commanding 10-point lead at the intermission.
Roy’s strong first half, however, masked an otherwise poor performance from the Gamecocks overall, which spilled over into the second half.
South Carolina’s offense was flat out of the half, as the team relied too heavily on the long ball. Roy’s heroics quickly wore off, but the team failed to feed its Olympic frontcourt duo of Alaina Coates and A’ja Wilson.
Syracuse cut the deficit to six points by the end of the third quarter and regained the lead shortly after. Alexis Peterson tied the game at 59 with 6:15 remaining and seized control from that point forward. Syracuse double-teamed Coates and Wilson down low, and South Carolina just could not make an outside shot.
Syracuse’s three-guard starting lineup combined for 61 points, with Peterson scoring a game-high 26 points on 9-16 shooting.
Seniors Khadijah Sessions and Asia Dozier combined for zero points, seven fouls and four turnovers. Coates and Wilson scored 33 points and grabbed 26 rebounds as a duo.
Friday night’s game was Sessions', Tiffany Mitchell's, Roy's, Sarah Imovbioh's and Dozier’s final game at South Carolina.