The South Carolina women's basketball team beat the Arizona State Sun Devils 60-58 in overtime Friday night. It was the opening game for the Gamecocks in the Waikiki Beach Marriott Showdown in Honolulu, Hawaii, and the number two team in the nation survived a scare. It took a pair of free throws by A'ja Wilson with .6 seconds remaining on the game clock to break the tie and give the Gamecocks a hard-fought win.
For South Carolina, it was Bianca Cuevas who led the way, shooting 7-13 for a team-high 18 points off the bench as the team's lead guard. Wilson, who scored 18 points, completed a double-double as she corralled 11 rebounds. In the front court, center Alaina Coates grabbed seven rebounds and added six points, while Sarah Imovbioh recorded eight boards off of the bench. Starting guards Tiffany Mitchell and Khadijah Sessions were held to six points, but were active on the defensive end with two steals apiece.
The Sun Devils were led by the back court of Elisha Davis with 10 points and Katie Hempen with 12 - in addition to 7 assists between the two of them. Forward Sophie Brunner was the only player with double digit rebounds as she had ten on the night.
Although South Carolina's stars such as Mitchell and Wilson, with six turnovers, didn't have the best performances, it was encouraging to see bench players step up. It is very rare for a team to have a roster ten deep where you can count on a player outside the starting five to carry the squad against a top 25 program.
The Gamecocks will continue their time in Hawaii tomorrow night as they take on CSU Bakersfield at 6:30 p.m. Eastern Time.