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Shambrica Jones earns her second career double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds.
Columbia, S.C. ? The Kentucky women’s basketball team captured their first win in the Southeastern Conference with a 75-61 victory over South Carolina on Sunday in Columbia. Five Wildcats scored in double-figures as Danyelle Payne led the way with 18 points and a career-high six assists. Shambrica Jones charted her second career-double double with 16 points and 10 rebounds.
Jones sparked the Cats (9-9, 1-4 SEC) early by scoring eight of UK’s first ten points, but USC (8-9, 0-5) rode the hot hand of Lauren Simms to a 19-10 first-half lead. With only a three-point cushion, Simms hit two consecutive three-pointers, jump-starting an 8-2 Gamecock run that opened the nine-point lead. USC continued the hot shooting from behind the arc, connecting on an impressive 7-of-11 treys in the half for a 38-29 halftime advantage. Jones led UK at the break with 12 points on 6-of-8 shooting and four rebounds.
The tables turned in the second stanza, as UK came out on fire and knocked down the shots behind the arc. Freshman Angela Phillips led the attack, hitting two trifectas followed by a Sara Potts’ bomb at the 17:37 mark. The Cats took their first lead of the game at 42-40 with 17:37 remaining. UK’s stifling defense held the Gamecocks scoreless for more than five minutes while the Cats built a seven-point lead, 47-40. The Cats held steady down the stretch, holding the Gamecocks to only two three-pointers in the second half. UK also hit 18-of-23 shots from the charity stripe for the game, including 6-of-8 in the final two minutes.
“It’s great to get our first SEC win,” UK Coach Mickie DeMoss said. “I had players hitting big shots in the second half and I’m so proud of this team. I just went in the lockerroom and thanked the players. To get this first win under our belt is big and everyone stepped up for us.”
With 11 points, SeSe Helm passed Kristi Cushenberry and moved into eighth place on UK’s all-time scoring list with 1,361 points. After being held scoreless in the first-half with two early fouls, Potts finished with 16 points. Phillips finished the game with 10 points, and in her first start of the season, Payne led UK with a career-high tying 18 points. Payne started for guard Jenny Pfeiffer who is out three to six weeks with mono.
The Cats turned the ball over only 12 times in the game compared to USC’s 16. UK also won the battle of the boards 40-37 breaking a six-game streak of being outrebounded. UK shot 44.8 percent from the field for the game on 26-of-58 while USC was held to 35.9 percent.
USC was led in scoring by Simms, who finished with 18 points. Olga Gritsaeva and Kelly Morrone joined Simms in double figures with 15 and 14 points, respectively. The Gamecocks have now lost eight games in a row, including five SEC matchups.
UK snapped a four-game losing streak to USC and now leads the all-time series 18-13. UK will meet USC again on Thursday, Feb. 26 at 7 p.m. ET in Memorial Coliseum.
The Cats return to action on Thursday, Jan. 29, when they play host to top-ranked Tennessee. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. EST and all the action can be caught live on Comcast Sports Southeast.
