Aliyah Boston’s big night powers No. 1 Gamecocks over No. 15 Duke. What we learned
No. 1 South Carolina rode a hot start on a chilly December night in Durham to a 55-46 win over No. 15 Duke on Wednesday in Cameron Indoor Stadium.
After giving up a 3-pointer in the game’s first minute, South Carolina went on a 16-0 run throughout much of the first quarter. The Gamecocks were able to keep their lead despite Duke’s second-half effort thanks to a strong first half, sealing their fifth victory over a ranked opponent this season.
The win pushed South Carolina’s undefeated record to 11-0 and handed Duke (8-1) its first loss of the year.
Here’s what we learned about the Gamecocks.
Gamecocks continue to own the boards
Duke head coach Kara Lawson said before the game she knew how important it would be to limit South Carolina’s dominance on the boards. Unfortunately for the Blue Devils, the Gamecocks continued to show their prowess as one of the most elite rebounding teams in the nation.
South Carolina rode a plus-27 rebound margin to its top-10 victory over Maryland on Sunday and entered the game against Duke out-rebounding opponents by an average of 18.8 boards per game — good for second in the country.
The Blue Devils couldn’t match up to the Gamecocks on the boards, and South Carolina headed to halftime out-rebounding Duke 24-8, with 12 of its rebounds coming on the offensive end. The Gamecocks scored 14 second-chance points in the first half.
South Carolina finished the game with 18 more rebounds than Duke (44-26), including 19 offensive boards.
Boston leads dominant night for Gamecocks’ bigs
South Carolina’s early dominance came off a solid stretch from starting forwards Aliyah Boston and Victaria Saxton, as well as Laeticia Amihere, who resumed her role as the Gamecocks’ starting point guard while Destanni Henderson continues to recover from injury.
Boston, Saxton and Amihere combined for 14 of South Carolina’s 17 first-quarter points. The three finished the night accounting for 33 of USC’s 55 points as well as 29 combined rebounds.
Boston added another huge performance to her All-American resume, tallying her fifth double-double of the season and fourth in a row. She scored 19 points along with 14 rebounds, four blocks and two steals Wednesday.
Amihere finished with 10 points and eight rebounds, while Saxton added four points and seven rebounds.
Destiny Littleton makes an impact off the bench
Destiny Littleton’s 3-point shot was falling just how she wanted it to in the first half Wednesday. The senior scored a season-high 10 points on 3-of-6 shooting from the field, all attempts from behind the arc.
Littleton was the only Gamecock to total more than 10 minutes off the bench, as USC leaned on its starters for the majority of the contest.
The only other South Carolina bench player to score a point Wednesday was Saniya Rivers, who made one free throw in the first half.
Next South Carolina women’s basketball game
Who: No. 1 South Carolina (11-0) vs. No. 3 Stanford (6-2)
When: 7 p.m. Tuesday
Where: Colonial Life Arena in Columbia, S.C.
Watch: ESPN2
South Carolina 55, Duke 46
SOUTH CAROLINA (11-0)—Amihere 3-7 3-4 10, Boston 8-15 1-2 19, Saxton 2-5 0-2 4, Beal 1-5 0-0 2, Cooke 3-17 0-0 7, Grissett 0-1 0-0 0, Wesolek 0-0 0-0 0, Cardoso 0-0 0-0 0, Littleton 3-6 1-2 10, Feagin 0-0 0-2 0, Hall 0-1 0-0 0, Rivers 0-0 1-3 1, Russell 0-0 2-2 2, Team 0-0 0-0 0, Totals 20-57 8-17 55
DUKE (8-1)—Gordon 2-8 0-0 6, Williams 0-6 2-2 2, Balogun 3-4 0-0 7, de Jesus 0-4 0-0 0, Taylor 4-9 0-0 9, Akinbode-James 0-0 0-0 0, Finklea-Guity 1-1 0-0 2, Goodchild 1-2 0-0 3, Day-Wilson 6-14 2-3 17, Volker 0-2 0-0 0, Team 0-0 0-0 0, Totals 17-50 4-5 46
Halftime—South Carolina 32-16. 3-Point Goals—South Carolina 7-22 (Amihere 1-1, Boston 2-3, Beal 0-2, Cooke 1-9, Littleton 3-6, Hall 0-1), Duke 8-23 (Gordon 2-6, Balogun 1-2, de Jesus 0-2, Taylor 1-2, Goodchild 1-1, Day-Wilson 3-8, Volker 0-2). Assists—South Carolina 8 (Amihere 3), Duke 11 (Williams 3). Fouled Out—None. Rebounds—South Carolina 44 (Saxton 6-7), Duke 26 (Williams 2-4). Total Fouls—South Carolina 9, Duke 21. Technical Fouls—None. A—5,451.
This story was originally published December 15, 2021 at 9:00 PM with the headline "Aliyah Boston’s big night powers No. 1 Gamecocks over No. 15 Duke. What we learned."
