South Carolina Women’s Basketball: #3 Gamecocks beat #4 Louisville 83-59

The seasoned trio of Alaina Coates, A’Ja Wilson and Allisha Gray carried a balanced South Carolina attack comfortably past the top tier Louisville Cardinals in an 83-59 victory Sunday afternoon in Springfield, M.A. The group of Coates, Wilson and Gray combined to equally score 17 points each, as Coates added her fourth double-double of the season with another 14 rebounds.

The Gamecock women used a 23-5 to stretch, carrying between the first and second half, to pull past the Cardinals in a game that was back and forth for much of the first two quarters. In all, five players tallied over ten plus points as Kaela Davis contributed for 14, with freshman forward Mikiah Herber Harrigan logging another 11 off the bench, and igniting the run. Transfers Davis and Gray capped it off with some sharp outside shooting and extended the Gamecocks margin to 48-32. South Carolina eventually opened up a 19 point lead late in the third as well.

The Gamecocks guards ability to knock down outside shots really opened the floor on offense for the forwards to operate down low. While it wasn’t a sensational day from the floor, South Carolina still managed to shot 45% from the field, and out muscled the Cardinals post for a +17 rebound margin.

South Carolina’s size helped not just on the boards, as the Gamecock’s defense was able to hold Louisville to their lowest scoring output of the year at 59, coming into the game averaging nearly 84 points a contest.

The Gamecocks victory improves the team to 5-0 as they head into a tough week with road trips to the #14 Texas Longhorns in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge and a visit to Durham with the Duke Blue Devils after that.

In an otherwise awful weekend on the football field, at least the Gamecock Basketball program, both men’s and women’s, can bring us all some joy and condolence.