Cooke leads No. 1 South Carolina in romp over Auburn

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) – Aliyah Boston had 10 points and 12 rebounds for her 18th straight double-double, Zia Cooke scored 20 points and No. 1 South Carolina won its 12th straight with a 75-37 victory over Auburn on Thursday night.

Boston moved within a game of the Southeastern Conference mark of 19 straight games with double-figure points and rebounds that was set in 2006 by LSU great Sylvia Fowles.

South Carolina (24-1, 12-1 SEC) took a 10-point lead in the first eight minutes, and Auburn (9-15, 1-12) could not catch up. The Gamecocks won their 12th straight in the series.

Gamecocks coach Dawn Staley was miffed this week, saying other players who are considered candidates for national college player of the year were often talked about on national broadcasts, but not Boston – some even during South Carolina telecasts.

That wasn’t the case with the crowd in this one, who tracked Boston’s every touch against the Tigers.

Boston had seven points and nine boards by halftime and quickly took care of things in the third quarter, collecting her 10th board to keep a possession alive, then draining a 3-pointer for her 10th point.

Boston came out of the game a couple of minutes later after two more boards and did not return. It was her 49th career double-double.

South Carolina built the lead to 35 points in the closing moments.

Cooke, who along with Boston was part of South Carolina’s No. 1 recruiting class three years ago, reached 20 points for the third time this season and first in 15 games since a win over Maryland on Dec. 12.

Aicha Coulibaly led Auburn with nine points, half her season’s average, on 4-of-18 shooting. Coulibaly also had nine rebounds.

UP NEXT: Sunday, Feb. 20 brings the final home game of the season with Tennessee coming to Columbia for a national audience. The Gamecocks welcome ESPN’s College GameDay to campus and switch to a 1 p.m. start time with the broadcast moving to ABC. Follow @GamecockWBB on social media and GamecocksOnline.com for information and updates on the weekend’s events.