DURHAM, N.C. — Kamilla Cardoso had 15 points and 14 rebounds to help No. 1 South Carolina beat Duke 77-61 on Sunday.
Cardoso, who had her fifth double-double of the season, was one of five players to score in double figures for the Gamecocks (7-0). Chloe Kitts added 14 points and eight rebounds, Te-Hina Paopao scored 12 points, Bree Hall had 13, and Raven Johnson chipped in 11.
Reigan Richardson led Duke (5-3) with 17 points while knocking down a career-best five 3-pointers. Delaney Thomas scored 11 of her 13 points in the first half for the Blue Devils.
Drama ensued before the halftime buzzer sounded. In the final play of the second quarter, Duke’s Jadyn Donovan blocked a layup attempt by Kitts and stared down the South Carolina forward as she lay on the floor, causing a bit of a kerfuffle. South Carolina’s Johnson then motioned for the referees to give Donovan a technical, and they obliged but gave the Gamecocks guard one too.
The Gamecocks then started the third quarter on a 12-3 run – highlighted by a 3-pointer from Paopao – to take a 15-point lead, the biggest advantage for either side in the game.
Duke battled back from that deficit to tie the game up with 7:43 to play after Richardson sank a shot from behind the arc, but South Carolina responded with a 15-2 burst to take another double-digit lead. Cardoso had eight points in that final stretch for South Carolina.
BIG PICTURE
Duke: Much like their season so far, this game was a bag of mixed results for the Blue Devils. Duke forced South Carolina into a season-worst 20 turnovers but allowed the Gamecocks to shoot a season-high 60% from 3-point land. At their best, this is a Duke team that took No. 3 Stanford to overtime on the road. It’s also the team that lost at home to mid-major Davidson. Against South Carolina, Duke landed somewhere in the middle, and that wasn’t enough to beat the top-ranked Gamecocks.
South Carolina: The Gamecocks trailed early in their second consecutive game on North Carolina’s Tobacco Road but found a way to respond and pull out a win to remain undefeated. Again, it was another total team effort that led to a South Carolina victory. In each of the team’s wins this season, at least three Gamecocks have scored in double figures.
UP NEXT
Duke: The Blue Devils open Atlantic Coast Conference play at Clemson on Thursday.
South Carolina: Morgan State visits the Gamecocks on Wednesday.