WBB: A&M defeats South Carolina 61-52, moves into SEC semifinals

Duluth, Ga. – Two years removed from winning a national championship, beating a top-20 team should almost be expected. But beating the same top-20 team twice when neither of the games are played on your home court is a task not easily accomplished.

However, the No. 19 Texas A&M women’s basketball team did just that on Friday when they defeated the No. 17 South Carolina Gamecocks 61-52 in the quarterfinal round of the 2013 SEC women’s basketball tournament.

Kristi Bellock scored 17 points, Karla Gilbert poured in 11 more and Courtney Williams scooped up 11 rebounds to lead the Aggies (22-9).

“If [South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley] is Steve Spurrier, then I’m Kevin Sumlin,” said A&M head coach Gary Blair. “That was almost as physical as the football games in the SEC. I think both teams played very good defense. They got a few extra shots, but they usually do because they’re the best offensive rebounding team we have faced all year.”

The Aggies were out-rebounded 46-33, and for only the third time this season, A&M won the game after losing the battle on the boards.

South Carolina (24-7) was led by Ashley Bruner who scored 19 and picked up 11 rebounds. Ieasia Walker also registered 15 for the Gamecocks.

Aggressive play early on by A&M gave them a 19-8 lead with 8:31 left to play in the first after a layup by Gilbert. However, that aggressiveness came at a price as Bellock and center Kelsey Bone found themselves on the bench with over seven minutes left in the first half due to foul trouble.

With Bellock and Bone on the bench, South Carolina mounted a comeback and trimmed the once 11-point A&M lead to three at the break.

“We went into halftime up three,” said Blair. “We were barely surviving on the offensive end, but were playing good defense. Coach Starkey had them ready to play and did an excellent job of preparing this team.”

At the 17:54 mark of the second half with the Aggies up by one, Bone finished a layup but appeared to injure her right knee on the play. The refs allowed South Carolina to play their next possession five-on-four with Bone on the ground in pain at the opposite end. The Gamecocks took advantage of the uneven possession by nailing a three-pointer to tie the game, making things appear very bleak for the Aggies.

However, A&M would go on a 14-5 run over the next 5:21 to take a 42-33 lead with 12:17 remaining in the game. During that stretch, Gilbert would record six points and a steal in place of the injured Bone.

“That’s probably the most minutes Karla has played in conference play,” stated Blair. “She held her own, got to the foul line and made five out of [seven].”

That nine-point lead was stretched to as many as 12 with 6:26 left before the Gamecocks rattled off seven straight points to cut the lead back to five off on a layup by Ieasia Walker with 3:58 left to play.

But the Gamecocks final push would not be enough, as the Aggies would score the next four points and milk the clock to the point where a comeback was impossible.

Now, the true test comes for A&M as they face off against the top-seeded Tennessee Volunteers on Saturday afternoon in the tournament semifinals. The Vols defeated the Aggies 82-72 in Knoxville on February 28th.

“I’m really excited about that game,” said Bellock. “The first time around, it wasn’t a good game for us. I hope tomorrow will be a better game. We just need to come out with more energy, get them off the boards, run our offense and do what we do. We can’t let them dictate how we play.”

A&M was able to handle a top-20 team twice in the same season, but can Tennessee? We’ll find out tomorrow as the two face off in a 3:00 CT matchup.