South Carolina Women’s Basketball: Chloe Kitts’ career high leads Gamecocks over #8 Duke

On By Littum

#3 South Carolina got #8 Duke to start the game and got a career-high 21 points from Chloe Kitts to hold off a late rally for an 81-70 win Thursday night.

South Carolina led by nearly 20 for most of the second and third quarters, but had to sweat the win after a 10-0 Duke run early in the fourth quarter.

South Carolina had its second drive on the court as Duke cut the lead to 69-61. After a timeout, Dawn Staley reset the starters and Chloe Kitts went to work. She scored seven straight points for the Gamecocks and nine of the next 10.

“My teammates kept finding me and the coach had played me a few times,” Kitts said. “They just kept telling me to keep attacking.

“That was all (Raven Johnson),” Staley said. “Ray called it in the first half and when we needed a bucket, she went back to it and kept going back to it. Chloe handed. She had to have a good one.”

Kitts finished with 21 points and 11 rebounds. She tied her career high for points and recorded her third double-double of the season.

“She was hot,” Te-Hina Paopao said. “It was what it was. I’ll feed the warm hand.”

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Duke scored first and the Blue Devils briefly held a 4-2 lead. Then Bree Hall hit a three to give South Carolina the lead and the Gamecocks went on a 10-0 run.

“They got wide open threes,” Kara Lawson said. “That wasn’t the game plan, in case you were wondering.”

South Carolina added 6-0 and 7-0 runs to lead by as many as 18 in the first quarter. Duke cut into the lead in the second quarter, but Joyce Edwards scored six points during an 8-0 run that put South Carolina ahead by 21.

“We didn’t start the game the way we hoped and we just spent the game trying to fight our way out of the hole,” Lawson said. “The hole was a little too deep with a team of that quality.”

Kitts led a balanced South Carolina scoring. All ten Gamecocks who played also scored. Sania Feagin and Te-Hina Paoapo each had 11 points. Freshmen Edwards and Maddy McDaniel had eight and seven points, respectively, off the bench.

South Carolina didn’t make a field goal over the final 4:12 of the game, but still shot 57.4% and 5-10 from three. Duke shot 50% in the fourth quarter, but just 44.8% for the game.

Delaney Thomas and Taina Mair each had 14 points to lead Duke.

Notes:

South Carolina held its annual Teddy Bear Toss on Thursday. There was also a carpet drive. … New athletic director Jeremiah Donati addressed the crowd before the game. President Michael Amiridis started the “Game-Cock” cheer. … Former Gamecock Aliyah Boston sat courtside. She addressed the crowd at the third quarter media timeout and introduced a new commercial for Experience Columbia. … Kitts seems to like playing against Duke. She had 14 points and nine rebounds last season at Durham. She wore a Collin Murray-Boyle hoodie after the game. … South Carolina was 14-19 from the line. … Duke outscored South Carolina by seven in the second half and five for the game. … Duke leading scorer Reigan Richardson played just one minute in the first quarter and finished with three points on 1-8 shooting. MiLaysia Fulwiley had three points on 1-7 shooting. … South Carolina had 16 fast break points, but only two came in the second half. … Dawn Staley’s outfit: Staley wore a dark gray Louis Vuitton sweater over a white t-shirt. … The announced attendance was 15,677. … South Carolina’s next game is Sunday against TCU in Fort Worth.