Feb 10, 2002
By STEVE BAILEY
AP Sports Writer
LEXINGTON, Ky. – The last time South Carolina played Kentucky, the Gamecocks dominated the Wildcats.
It took composure and clutch shooting down the stretch in the rematch as the ninth-ranked Gamecocks barely escaped with a 74-73 victory Sunday.
Jocelyn Penn scored 21 points, and Shaunzinski Gortman had 15 points and 10 rebounds to lead South Carolina (20-3, 8-2 Southeastern Conference), which has won three straight and 16 of its last 18 games.
Cristina Ciocan added 13 points and Tatyana Troina had 10 for the Gamecocks, whose 78-49 win over Kentucky last month was the largest against an SEC team in the program’s history.
“As a ranked team, everyone is going to come at us,” said Ciocan, who made 6-of-10 shots and dished out seven assists. “We expected them to come out strong, especially after the last time we played them.”
SeSe Helm scored 24 points and Sara Potts had a career-high 21 to lead Kentucky (8-15, 1-10), which dropped its ninth straight game.
The Wildcats were determined to go out and prove they were a much better team than it appeared in Columbia.
“I got sick to my stomach watching the film,” said Potts, who shot 3-for-7 on 3-pointers. “We wanted to set the tone from the beginning and show that we are a much more confident team than when we played them before.”
Down 14-13, Kentucky went on a 10-0 run to go up 23-14 midway through the first half. The Wildcats led 33-29 with 4:27 to play, but a 17-3 run to end the half gave the Gamecocks a 46-36 halftime lead.
“We came out fearless and ready to get after it,” Kentucky coach Bernadette Mattox said. “We didn’t defend when we were down in South Carolina. We were lethargic, and that’s just not us.”
Turnovers gave South Carolina the opportunity to get back in the game. The Gamecocks scored 18 points off 13 Kentucky turnovers, most of which came during the final eight minutes of the half.
As it did in the opening minutes of the game, Kentucky controlled the tempo and regained the lead early in the second half.
LaTonya McDole scored seven of her nine points and Potts added six during a 19-4 run to open the half, giving the Wildcats a 55-50 lead with 11:42 to play.
“At halftime, we talked about how we didn’t execute the last eight minutes or so of the half,” Mattox said. “We allowed their press to turn us over.
“I just told them that we were too good of a press-breaking team to allow their pressure to disturb us. We came out in the second half, went right through the press and started executing our offense.”
Down five, Ciocan scored four points during a 14-6 run to put the Gamecocks back on top 64-61 with 5:33 to play.
“There was maybe a two-or three-minute lapse in each half where I thought we were able to get out and make a little bit of a run,” South Carolina coach Susan Walvius said. “That made all the difference in the world.”
Helm hit two free throws to give Kentucky a 67-66 lead with 3:32 to play. But Ciocan’s runner in traffic and Penn’s basket inside gave South Carolina the lead for good, 70-68, with 2:30 remaining.
Down 74-70 in the closing moments, Kentucky nearly stole the game. Potts drained a long 3 with 4.2 seconds to play to cut the lead to one.
Gortman missed a free throw with 3.8 seconds left, but Kentucky could not get the ball back downcourt to take a final desperation shot before the buzzer.
“We’ve learned how to win ball games this year,” Walvius said. “That’s a big step this team has taken.”
Kentucky shot 55 percent to South Carolina’s 49 percent but lost the rebounding battle 34-28, including a 16-8 margin at the offensive end.
