Cooke, reserves lead No. 1 South Carolina women over Liberty

Updated Dec. 11, 2022 4:30 p.m. ET

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COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Zia Cooke scored a season-high 20 points and No. 1 South Carolina, boosted by coach Dawn Staley's early substitutions, beat Liberty 88-39 on Sunday.

The Gamecocks (9-0) returned from a week-long break for exams.

Not liking what she saw from her starting five, Staley brought in five reserves in the first quarter. That broke the malaise as the Gamecocks immediately padded their margin with an 11-4 run on the way to a 42-22 halftime lead.

The starting lineup returned in the second half and kept up the pressure. The Flames were held to six points in the third quarter as the Gamecocks’ lead increased to 35.

Reserve forward Sania Feagin added a career-high 14 points for the Gamecocks.

Mya Berkman led Liberty (3-5) with 17 points.

BIG PICTURE

Liberty: The Flames are seeing how tough they are with a rough stretch of playing eight of nine games away from home. Liberty's last home game was Nov. 17 and the only one between then and Jan. 5 comes Thursday night against NCAA Division II Limestone.

South Carolina: After a lengthy exam break, the Gamecocks wanted to get back in rhythm. The first-quarter line change of substitutions sent a message to the starters and the Gamecocks were able to again show off their incredibly deep bench.

UP NEXT

Liberty returns home to face NCAA Division II opponent Limestone on Thursday night.

South Carolina goes plays South Dakota State in Sioux Falls, less than a hour's drive from the Jackrabbits' campus on Thursday night.

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AP women’s college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/womens-college-basketball and https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-womens-college-basketball-poll and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25

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