South Carolina Stops Buffalo's Cinderella Story At The Sweet Sixteen
Buffalo came out of the gates on a tear, holding their own with the Gamecocks. The lead changed four times in the first half, with the largest lead being South Carolina’s by 12. Alexis Jennings led the Gamecocks in the first half with 12 points, but offense wasn’t SC’s strong suit in the first half as they committed 12 turnovers, even though they forced 7. Cierra Dillard was money in the first half, scoring 16 points on 5 of 12 shooting (2 of 6 from three).
Carolina kept its pace in the second half, but the Bulls were not giving up, cutting the lead to 7 at the end of the third quarter. The fans really got into it and Buffalo kept pushing in the fourth quarter though. Late in the fourth it looked like that was all the Bulls had as the Gamecocks broke it open with an 11-point lead with 1:26 left in the game. As Tyasha Harris dribbled out the clock, the gamecocks took a 79-63 win to advance to the Elite Eight.
A’ja Wilson led the Gamecocks with 20 points and 13 rebounds, Alexis Jennings added 20 of her own as well. Doniyah Cliney added 12 and Tyasha Harris had 10 points.
Cierra Dillard led the bulls with 29 points on 9 of 22 shooting. Stephanie Ried had 8 points, 3 of them three pointers.
