South Carolina women’s basketball survives scare, beats Michigan 68-62

LAS VEGAS — No sure things, no sure bets, especially in Las Vegas.

In a match no. 1 South Carolina women’s basketball was expected to run into to start its national title defense, the Gamecocks trailed unranked Michigan at halftime and needed to pull out a 68-62 victory to get the season off to a winning start.

Michigan (0-1) trimmed South Carolina’s lead to just two points in the final 30 seconds thanks to a pair of triples from the true freshman Syla Sword at the last minute, but Chloe Kitts knocked down a pair of free throws with 21.1 seconds left to make it a two-possession game, and Raven Johnson – who didn’t hit a field goal all game – blocked another Swords triple to put the game on ice.

A long list of problems plagued South Carolina (1-0), but it all started and ended with shooting. The Gamecocks were an awful 25-of-75 (33.3 percent) from the floor and spent most of the game rattling 3-pointers off the back iron, a trend that started right out of the gate.

South Carolina missed its first five shots from the floor as Michigan stormed out to a 7-0 lead, and it took a stellar Kitts performance to even keep the Gamecocks within touching distance early.

The junior forward had South Carolina’s first six points and was the only Gamecock to score in more than six minutes to start the game as the offense disintegrated around her into a malaise of poor shot selection and sloppy decision-making. She finished the contest with 19 points and 14 rebounds, the only Gamecock to reach double-digit rebounds.

Not that it was much better at the other end, though.

Michigan started five guards — three true freshmen — and used its speed to attack off the dribble and cause problems all night. Swords took no time settling into college basketball, scoring 27 points in his collegiate debut. Senior Jordan Hobbs added 19 of his own, and the duo kept the Wolverines on top for most of the first half and within striking distance the entire way.

When the Gamecocks entered the locker room, they trailed 38-37 and had attempted more 3-pointers than layups in half-court sets against a team that didn’t start a post player.

But as the shooting committee began to settle in, South Carolina’s offense woke up. It was far from vintage, certainly not dominant and decidedly lacking Kamilla Cardoso’s presence inside, but the Gamecocks scored 10 of their first 14 points in the second half and went on a 12-5 run out of the locker room to take the lead.

Only for the offense to stall just as it looked like they were establishing some game control. After taking their biggest lead of the game at 60-51 in the fourth quarter, it took six minutes for South Carolina to score again. The defense rallied to preserve the lead, but a lackluster offensive performance left the door open down to its final possession.

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