COLUMBIA, S.C.– Despite being out-rebounded 46-33, Bashaara Graves took it upon herself to give No. 6 Tennessee a fighting shot late in the game on the road against No. 2 South Carolina.
Graves led a late run and gave the Lady Vols an opportunity to steal a victory in Columbia in front of a crowd of 14,390 at Colonial Life Arena on Monday night.
However, a turnover with eight seconds remaining would give seventh-year head coach Dawn Staley and her Gamecocks their 31st straight victory at home, winning 71-66.
Aleighsa Welch finished with 19 points (9-of-14 FG) and 14 rebounds to help give her team its first home win over Tennessee since 1980.
“We have a lot of respect for Dawn and what she has done with her team,” said head coach Holly Warlick. “We just came up short. We have to keep working. The rebounding was the difference in the game. We didn’t have an answer for Welch on the boards.”
Graves was one of four Tennessee players to finish in double figures, as she recorded 20 points (8-of-17 FG) and seven rebounds in her first start at center since Isabelle Harrison’s season ending injury.
“While Izzy has been out I’ve been more aggressive on the offensive end,” Graves said. “I want to play my game like I’m use to. I know I have to pick up the slack.”
South Carolina was off to a hot start from the field in the first half and established its presence down low.
Welch hit a mid-range baseline jumper assisted by Tiffany Mitchell to give her team a 20-12 lead with 12:40 left in the first half.
After allowing South Carolina to hit its first 9-of-13 shots from the field, the Lady Vols’ zone defense held the Gamecocks to nine misses in the next 11 shots.
With UT sophomore Jordan Reynolds penetrating the defense, the observant point guard found Ariel Massengale on the outside to connect on a 3-pointer from the right corner to tie the game at 26 with 5:24 left.
Then with the Gamecock defense unaware, senior forward Cierra Burdick skipped a pass down low to an unguarded Andraya Carter for an easy layup with 23 seconds left before halftime. The Lady Vols only trailed 36-33 despite failing to take the lead during the first half.
“We had good looks and got into our offense,” Warlick said. “We didn’t force many bad shots.”
Graves and Elem Ibiam traded blows down low and went into the break leading their teams in scoring with 11 and 12 respectively.
Welch stole the show for much of the second half, in which she totaled nine points and hauled in five of her seven offensive rebounds.
“She had a heck of a game,” Burdick said. “I have a lot of healthy respect for her as a ball player. We need to locate those type of players early and get them out of the paint.”
Burdick cut the deficit to 62-57 with seven minutes remaining after back-to-back field goals, which gave her three straight games with at least 14 points or more.
The senior, who started at power forward, finished with 16 points on 7-of-11 shooting.
The Gamecocks (26-1, 14-0 SEC) answered back with their size advantage to create a double-digit lead after 6-foot-4 center Alaina Coates hit two straight field goals in the paint to push the lead to 67-57 with 5:03 left.
However, Graves sparked a late 9-0 run, and with 20 seconds left she hit a layup to bring the deficit to 67-66.
Carter stepped out of bounds on the baseline in Tennessee’s second to last possession to end a chance of a comeback. The play had been designed to give Massengale a 3-point shot attempt down 69-66.
Tennessee (23-4, 13-1 SEC) shot 43.3 percent (26-of-60) from the field and only turned the ball over six times while South Carolina shot 42.9 percent (30-of-78 FG) and only turned the ball over three times.
“There were a lot of great things we did that we can be proud about,” Burdick said. “Everybody counted us out and there was a bunch of noise and we didn’t let that effect us. We came in here fearless and didn’t give up when down 11 points.”
The Lady Vols now have two regular season games left against Georgia and Vanderbilt before the SEC Tournament begins.
“We played with energy and a great amount of effort,” Warlick said. “We are playing without one of our best players and one of the best in the country. I don’t feel bad about the loss. I hate it for these kids, but we are going to get better. We were in this game till the finish.”
