TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) — Aliyah Boston had 16 points and 12 rebounds and Bree Hall scored a career-high 18 to lead No. 1 South Carolina to a 65-52 victory over Alabama on Sunday.
The Gamecocks (21-0, 9-0 Southeastern Conference) got their 27th consecutive win in a game that remained close into the third quarter.
Alabama (16-6, 5-4) pulled to within four points in the third quarter but Hall, Boston and South Carolina’s defense took over. The duo paired up for 11 straight points to give the Gamecocks a 48-35 edge, their biggest of the game at that point.
Boston made of 8 of 10 shots for her 14th double-double of the season and had four blocks and four assists. The reigning national player of the year got plenty of help from Hall, who made half of her 8 3-point attempts. Coming into the game, Hall had made just 1 of 11 3s and averaged 2.6 points.
South Carolina leading scorer Zia Cooke scored six points — 10 below her season average.
Sarah Ashlee Barker scored a season-high 15 points for Alabama, Brittany Davis scored 11 of her 13 in the first half and had eight rebounds, and Aaliyah Nye had eight points but played only 17 minutes before fouling out.
Raven Johnson’s layup and a 3-pointer with 1:45 left gave the Gamecocks a 33-23 lead late in the first half. Alabama then ended a four-minute field goal drought with Davis’ long 3-pointer with 19 seconds to play, cutting the halftime margin to 33-26.
BIG PICTURE
South Carolina: The Gamecocks got 35 points off the bench but shot just 18 of 52 (35%) from the floor.
Alabama: Playing its third game in seven days, the Tide lost 89-51 to No. 4 LSU and beat Arkansas 69-66 on a late 3-pointer. Alabama has lost 41 straight games against top-5 teams.
UP NEXT
South Carolina: Hosts Kentucky on Thursday night.
Alabama: Visits Missouri on Feb. 5.
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AP women’s college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/womens-college-basketball and https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-womens-college-basketball-poll