Written by Pete Iacobili

AP Sports Writer

Columbia, South Carolina – North Carolina state coach Wes Moore has coached two-time Super Bowl champion Bill Barcells after Wolfpack’s historic win over seeded South Carolina 1.

Raina Perez scored the green light with 3 pointer before left 3:07 and Kayla Jones had 16 points and 12 rebounds and the eighth-seeded Wolfpack ended Gamecocks’ 29-game winning streak with a 54-46 win Thursday night.

Moore, like his players, was happy to win the road opening. But it’s too early for anyone to believe that the Wolfpack can now go on all season.

Moore said, “Barcelona used to talk about ‘the big game, the next game.’ We have to make sure we are ready to play on Sunday. But we’ll be enjoying this for 24 hours. “

There was a lot to enjoy. Along with Jones, Jakia Brown-Turner had a double double, with 11 points and 12 boards. During the time of trouble, Wolfpack beat South Carolina 11-2 in the last five minutes.

Wolfbeck (3-0) beat their opponent first for the first time since they ousted the Duke in the 2007 Atlantic Coast Conference Championship.

South Carolina lost 3-1 for the first time since falling to Indiana on November 28, 2019, the first time at home since losing 68-64 to Mississippi at the end of the regular season two seasons ago.

Gamecocks were frozen the whole time, shooting 28% of the field.

South Carolina coach Don Staley said, “In my 21 years (as a coach) I have never felt what I did during a match.” “Unsolvable. Can not be tamed. Selfish play. “

Elisa Konani added 14 points, five rebounds and four blocks, with Perez finishing 11 points.

Conan struck twice to put Wolfpack ahead 48-44 less than two minutes before the end. But stealing Zia Cooke and throwing the ball knocked South Carolina into the basket 53.4 seconds ago. After a timeout, Wolfpack moves the ball to Jones wide open for a 3-point indicator.

When LeLe Grissett was called in to charge the next possession, the celebration was underway 15 seconds before the end of the match.

Cook and Letizia Amiher topped the Gamecocks, with 11 points each. Ameher also scored 15 rebounds.

Jones believes the North Carolina win showed that he will be a team to be reckoned with this season. “I feel like it’s a big victory,” she said. “I thought we could compete with anyone.”

Both teams broke into the defense in the first half, making it a defensive struggle to find points.

Wolfpack’s team shot 25%, but that was better than South Carolina, which was 8 out of 37 and missed 14 straight shots.

Moore said there’s a lot to clean up, especially in the event of an attack. But he’s glad he got those lessons after the ages.

He said, “It is not March.” “But it is a game that we can definitely build on.”

The Big Picture

North Carolina: The Wolfpack team packed the middle against Gamecocks Escape and Run, and it worked as they kept South Carolina into a 28% low shooting season.

South Carolina: The Gamecocks have been tested in their last three ball matches and have yet to establish themselves as the relentless dominant team they were a year ago.

Implications of the poll

South Carolina has been at the top of the past 12 AP polls dating back to last season. This race will end next week with this loss. Expect Wolfpack to rise in the standings, as long as they make no mistake in their next game Sunday.

ANTHEM procedures

As it happened at the opening, 10 of the 11 South Carolina players sat during the national anthem in support of the fight against racial injustice. The Gamecocks are joined by 10 Wolfpack members, who kneel next to each other while the song plays.

Midterm conversation

In the first half when South Carolina hit just 2 out of 19 in the second quarter (10.5%), Gamecocks’ coach Don Staley, a former All-American and National Footballer at Virginia, told them this was unacceptable. “I told our team that I could be blindfolded by the defense and pay better than 10 percent,” she said.

next one

North Carolina: Coastal Carolina hosts Sunday.

South Carolina: at No. 23 in Iowa on Sunday.

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