Gamecocks Down Cougars - CofCSports.com--Official Web site of College of Charleston Athletics

Wednesday, January 28

John Kresse Arena

7pm

College of Charleston

South Carolina

Gamecocks Down Cougars - CofCSports.com--Official Web site of College of Charleston Athletics

1/28/2004 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball

#articleRelated { display: none !important; } Despite 20 points by Rachel King, the College of Charleston women's basketball team could not overcome a 54.3 percent shooting effort from South Carolina as the Gamecocks defeated the Cougars 84-61 tonight in front of 625 fans at the John Kresse Arena.

The Cougars fall to 5-13 overall, while the Gamecocks snap a school-record eight losses in a row with the win to go to 9-9 on the year. Four Gamecocks scored in double figures in the non-conference win. Olga Gritsaeva netted 19 points to lead the South Carolina offensive attack. Kelly Morrone scored 16 points including 4-for-6 from behind the three-point line. Iva Sliskovic and Lauren Simms each added 13 points for the Gamecocks.

Patrice Bryant scored 18 points for the Cougars including 8-for-10 from the foul line. Carrie Geden added eight points and grabbed seven rebounds for Charleston.

Charleston found itself down by 12 (16-4) with 14:58 to go in the first half before clawing back to within three points off three three-pointers from King. With the Cougars down 20-17 with 10:17 left in the half, South Carolina went on a 12-0 the next three-and-a-half minutes to take the 32-17 lead. Halftime came with USC leading 46-29. The Gamecocks shot 56.3 percent for the half, while the Cougars, who held the 18-16 rebound edge, shot 34.5 percent.

The Gamecocks stretched the lead in the first five minutes of the second half and led 56-35 on Kelly Morrone's three-pointer. The Cougars got as close as 16 at 63-47 on two Bryant free throws with 11:11 to play. Charleston also was down 16 at 70-54 on a three-pointer by Marketta Talley but South Carolina responded with a Morrone jumper to push the lead back to 18.

South Carolina kept their stellar first half shooting up in the second half connecting on 56 percent in the final 20 minutes. Charleston shot 35.7 percent in the second half and 35.1 percent for the game. The Gamecocks won the rebounding battle 34-33 for the game after being out rebounded in the first half.

Tonight's game featured CofC head coach Nancy Wilson going against a South Carolina team she coached from 1984-97. Wilson is the third winningest coach in South Carolina history with a record of 231-149 (.608). She coached at CofC from 1976-1984 achieving a 193-64 record before heading to Columbia to coach the Gamecocks. While with the Gamecocks she guided the team to five Metro Conference championships and five trips to the NCAA Tournament. Wilson is in her first year of her second stint as head coach of the Cougars. She is 429-227 (.655) in her head-coaching career at both USC and CofC.

The Cougars travel to Western Carolina Jan. 31st for a 4:00 PM contest, while the Gamecocks are at LSU Feb. 1st for a 2:00 PM game.