By james art 
South Carolina got all it could handle from a bad Michigan team, but escaped Las Vegas with a win.
The diminutive Wolverines started five guards, including three freshmen. What they lacked in size, they made up for with five players who could shoot and get to the rim. Defensively, the Wolverines played zone and hoped the Gamecocks would miss shots.
They missed a lot. South Carolina shot just 33.3% and 5-26 from three. Michigan was even worse, at 31.0%.
“I think our players are playing extremely unselfishly, (but) we’ve got to find a way to get the ball in the hole,” Dawn Staley said.
South Carolina clearly lacked a dominant player. There was no rim protector that made the Michigan scary to drive.
“I thought they were just coming back at us,” Staley said. “I thought they had all the 50-50 balls. I thought they just played harder. They just attacked us. They imposed their will on us and were in attack mode for most of the night.
Michigan went on a 7-0 run and led 21-18 after one quarter. The lead was 38-37 at halftime. South Carolina increased its defensive intensity in the second half and used an 8-3 run to take control.
“I thought we did a pretty good job of controlling their shots to the basket,” Staley said. “Once they drove to the basket, if we got out of position, they got ahead in the possession and just made us fight. I thought we did a better job of that.”
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A 6-0 run early in the fourth quarter gave South Carolina a nine-point lead, but the Gamecocks cooled off after that. They didn’t score over the next six minutes, going 0-8 in that span. Michigan wasn’t much better, scoring just five points.
“Their zone — we weren’t attacking the paint,” Chloe Kitts said. “We have not published. There are a lot of things offensively that we could have done better.”
Bree Hall hit a jumper to end the drought, then Raven Johnson made a pair of free throws to put South Carolina up 64-56 with 56 seconds left. The lead looked secure, but freshman Cilla Swords made two 3-pointers and Johnson missed two free throws to upset South Carolina.
After the second three-pointer, Keatts made a pair of free throws. Johnson blocked another Swords 3-pointer and Joyce Edwards made 2-4 free throws down the stretch for the final margin.
During South Carolina’s slow start, Keatts almost single-handedly kept the Gamecocks in the game. She finished with 19 points, tied her career high with 14 rebounds and added a block and a steal.
“I’m just playing hard,” Kitts said. “Lisa Leslie came and talked to us at the Aces facility and just told us to show up every night. I feel like I got it and I’ll do my best to show up every night from now on.
Tessa Johnson scored 15 points off the bench and Edwards had 10 points, seven rebounds and two steals.
“Basketball is kind of simple,” Johnson said. “If they take away my three-point shot, I can take the middle class. Or if they take away my midrange, I’m going to look for a layup.”
But it was Swords who stole the show. The freshman point guard was the fifth-ranked player in his class and the highest-ranked player in Michigan program history. She had 27 points and 12 rebounds and looked like she could get to the rim whenever she wanted.
“Lord! I am happy to have her in our program,” Kim Barnes Arico said. “She’s just a competitor. I’ve never seen anything like it. She’s relentless, she’s got a drive, she just makes things happen.
Notes:
Maddie McDaniel was in uniform and participated in warmups, but did not play. Sakima Walker also did not play. … Both teams had 52 tackles. Michigan had 21 second-chance points and South Carolina had 17. … Las Vegas Ace players Chelsea Gray, Alicia Clark and Jackie Young were at the game. … Dawn Staley’s outfit: Staley wore a black and gold Chanel sweater. … South Carolina’s next game is Sunday against NC State in Charlotte.