No. 5 South Carolina defeats No. 25 South Dakota 73-60

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — LeLe Grissett had 17 points off the bench and No. 5 South Carolina outlasted 25th-ranked South Dakota 73-60 on Sunday for its sixth straight victory.

The Gamecocks (12-1) took control midway through the opening period and while South Dakota (11-2) never let things get out of hand, it could not make a significant dent in the double-digit deficit.

As it did in beating Purdue and Duke by a combined 79 points the past two outings, South Carolina used its speed and defense to keep the Coyotes on their heels.

Grissett, a 6-foot-2 junior, had her third straight game with double-digit points after having just one such performance in South Carolina’s first 10 games.

Freshman Zia Cooke added 13 points for the Gamecocks.

South Carolina took control early with a 25-7 surge that spanned the first and second quarters. The run included a right-handed, three-quarter court-length heave from Tyasha Harris that swished home to close the opening quarter.

When Harris hit a jumper with 4:46 to go in the second quarter, the Gamecocks were ahead 36-17 and looked on their way to another blowout.

But the Coyotes made six of their final seven shots and trailed 42-29 at the break.

South Carolina’s defense took its toll early on South Dakota, which was shooting 26% from the field in the first 15 minutes before its hot finish.

The Gamecocks came out strong in the third quarter with Cooke’s 3-pointer about two minutes in extending the lead to 47-31.

Ciara Duffy finished with a game-high 20 points for South Dakota before fouling out in the final quarter. The team’s second-leading scorer coming in, Hannah Sjerven, was held to five points in 17 minutes because of foul trouble.

The Coyotes came in No. 10 nationally in scoring at 82 points per game. They were held to their fewest points this season.

THE BIG PICTURE

South Dakota: The Coyotes, the preseason pick to win the Summit League, entered the AP Top 25 this week and will likely drop out despite losing to a top-5 opponent. Still, South Dakota is a good bet to make its second straight NCAA Tournament.

South Carolina: The Gamecocks have been strong against Top 25 opponents and showed that once more. South Carolina improved to 3-1 this season against ranked teams, beating Maryland and Baylor last month. Its lone loss came to Indiana.

UP NEXT

South Dakota will have a week off before starting Summit League play at Western Illinois on Dec. 29.

South Carolina gets more than a week off before opening its Southeastern Conference season Jan. 2 at home against No. 14 Kentucky.