Tyler ButlerCOLUMBIA, MO. (AP) – Lauren Hansen made a driving layup with 0.1 seconds left and Missouri stunned No. 1 South Carolina 70-69 in overtime Thursday night in the Southeastern Conference opener for both teams.
The Tigers (12-2) overcame the absence of scoring leader Aijha Blackwell and four other players to beat a No. 1 team for the first time in program history. It marked only the seventh time an unranked team has beaten the top-ranked team.
South Carolina (12-1) was coming off its biggest comeback in school history, overcoming an 18-point deficit to beat No. 2 Stanford last Tuesday. On Thursday night, the Tigers always had an answer when the Gamecocks cut it close.
Hansen and Hayley Frank each scored 21 points, LaDazhia Williams added 12, and Mama Dembele had 11. The Gamecocks trailed by as many as six in final three minutes of regulation.
Aliyah Boston scored 17 points for South Carolina. Kamilla Cardoso added 14, and Zia Cooke had 10.
NOTABLE
- The loss snaps a four-game win streak in the series, dating back to 2018. Missouri is the last unranked SEC opponent to defeat the Gamecocks, coming in South Carolina’s national-championship-winning 2017 season.
- Overall, South Carolina had won 43 games in a row against unranked opponents before Thursday night, which was the longest active streak in Division I.
- Kamilla Cardoso had perhaps her best all-around game at South Carolina, hitting 7-of-9 shots for 14 points to go with eight rebounds in 20 minutes off the bench. The sophomore’s previous high this season was 12 points, Thursday is her third game with double-digit points this season.
- Four different Gamecocks pulled down three or more offensive rebounds in the game, helping the team enjoy a 20-6 advantage in the category. That fueled a 22-9 advantage in second-chance points, the third time this season South Carolina score 20 or more points off second chance opportunities.
- For the second game in a row, the Gamecocks were in single digits for turnovers, committing eight for the game; but Missouri’s eight turnovers committed were the fewest forced by South Carolina so far this season.
- Zia Cooke made a pair of clutch 3-pointers in the third quarter, with her two makes giving the team leads at 38-37 and 43-42 after Missouri went into halftime with the lead.
- Aliyah Boston clinched her sixth-consecutive double-double in dramatic fashion, picking it up thanks to an offensive rebound and put-back layup to tie the score at 64 with 21 seconds left in the fourth quarter. After foul trouble limited her to just eight minutes in the first half, Boston totaled 16 points and nine rebounds in the second half and overtime.
QUOTABLE
UP NEXT
South Carolina’s final game of the conference’s opening week of action, Sunday, Jan. 2 at home against Ole Miss, is already postponed due to a combination of positive tests, contact tracing and subsequent quarantining of individuals within the Ole Miss’ program. That pushes the team’s next game to its road matchup with LSU (12-1) at 8 p.m. ET on Jan. 6.
Justin Shealy
