No. 14 Vanderbilt 67, South Carolina 66

1/11/2007 8:33 PM

By JEFFREY COLLINS
Associated Press Writer

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) -Dee Davis hit two free throws with 22.6 seconds to go as No. 14 Vanderbilt made a late charge to beat South Carolina 67-66 on Thursday night.

The final points of the game gave the No. 14 Commodores (15-2, 2-1 Southeastern Conference) their only lead of the night.

The Gamecocks (10-7, 1-2) led 64-55 with 4 minutes to go, but turned the ball over six times and made just 2-of-6 free throws in their final 11 possessions. The only shot from the field during that stretch was Lakesa Tolliver's miss with 2 seconds to go.

The Commodores scored on five of their final seven possessions, making four of six free throws in the final 40 seconds.

South Carolina dominated much of the game, outrebounding Vanderbilt by 14 and holding the SEC's second-best shooting team to just 44.1 percent (26-of-59) from the field.

However, the Gamecocks turned over the ball 27 times, compared to 18 for the Commodores.

Carla Thomas led Vanderbilt with 26 points and seven rebounds, while Christina Wirth and Caroline Williams each added 13 points.

Stacy Booker scored 14 points and Tolliver had nine points and nine rebounds for South Carolina.

The Commodores opened the game in a zone, challenging the poor-shooting Gamecocks to beat them from outside. However, South Carolina hit two 3-pointers, a couple more outside shots and broke Vanderbilt's press for an easy layup to take a 14-5 lead.

South Carolina led by seven at half and by 13 with just over 8 minutes to go as Vanderbilt kept making turnovers and missed eight straight free throws.

But the Commodores press started to rattle the Gamecocks, who scored just two points in the final four minutes.

Thomas' 26 points lifts her to 10th on Vanderbilt's all-time scoring list with 1,527 points.

South Carolina hasn't beaten a ranked SEC opponent since an 83-59 win over then-No. 13 Arkansas in February 2003.