FINAL: Gamecocks Lean On Multiple Scoring Runs To Defeat Missouri 81-57

South Carolina's women's basketball team initially had a hard time putting away the Missouri Tigers, but did enough in the second half to slam the door shut.

The South Carolina Gamecocks were looking to put more of a complete game together in their second road matchup of SEC play against the Missouri Tigers on Thursday night. While the game didn't quite play out that way, Dawn Staley's team found a way take care of business, defeating Missouri 81-57.

In the first quarter, the Gamecocks got off to an efficient start shooting the basketball, making seven of their first thirteen shots. Bree Hall, in particular, got into a rhythm on the offensive end, scoring ten of South Carolina's first sixteen points.

Bree Hall putting up a shot against the Mississippi State Bulldogs (7th Jan., 2024) / Jeff Blake | USA Today Network

Due to some early foul trouble for both Kamilla Cardoso and Chloe Kitts, the Gamecocks had to go to more of a 'small-ball' lineup with Ashlyn Watkins and Sania Feagin in the front court. Those changes allowed Missouri to contend with Carolina more on the glass, as the Tigers actually outrebounded Staley's squad by one in the first ten minutes of play.

Things would continue to remain close until around halfway through the second quarter, when the Gamecocks went on an 11-2 run which was spurted by three 3-pointers, helping Carolina expand their lead to six points. Another 11-3 run in the final three minutes of the half would send Dawn's team into the locker up thirteen over Missouri.

In the third quarter, South Carolina allowed Tigers' star Hayley Frank to get hot, with the graduate forward scoring 11 points in the first five minutes and nineteen seconds of the period, 9 of them coming from behind the arc. Frank's herculean effort and the Gamecocks rare lack of dominance on the glass helped Mizzou cut Carolina's lead down to five. 

South Carolina, however, would respond in the final four and a half minutes of the period, outscoring the Tigers 12-4 thanks to a combination of Bree Hall's torrid shooting pace, Raven Johnson's tenacious defensive play and smart shot selections by Te-Hina Paopao and Tessa Johnson.

That aforementioned stretch would effectively put things out of reach for Missouri, as South Carolina would pull away in the fourth quarter by continuing to play sound basketball, which eluded them this past Sunday against Mississippi State. The Gamecocks will be back home in the Colonial Life Arena on Monday night when they take on the Kentucky Wildcats.

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