Alabama women’s basketball gave South Carolina all sorts of trouble, but the higher-ranked team pulled away late to secure the victory.

In what was a five-point game early in the fourth quarter, the No. 2 Gamecocks finished strong to defeat the No. 19 Crimson Tide 76-58 on Thursday at Coleman Coliseum.

Here are three takeaways from the game between No. 2 South Carolina (17-1, 5-0 SEC) and No. 19 Alabama (16-3, 3-2).

Alabama halts South Carolina takeover attempt in first half

The Gamecocks looked like they were about to start cruising.

Alabama scored the first bucket of the game, then it was all South Carolina for a bit. The Gamecocks went on a 10-0 run over fewer than three minutes while the Crimson Tide missed seven consecutive shots. South Carolina was looking like the No. 2 team in the country while Alabama looked overmatched.

Then triples starting falling for the Crimson Tide. Aaliyah Nye and Diana Collins sunk 3-pointers on back-to-back possessions to draw within 14-10 with 2:27 left in the first quarter.

But South Carolina started cruising again. The Gamecocks used a strong first-half performance on the glass to fuel offensive success, grabbing 11-point leads multiple times in the first half. But Alabama always prevented that lead from growing into an impossible deficit.

Nye, Collins and Essence Cody combined to score points on four straight possessions midway through the second quarter to bring Alabama back within 27-23 with 5:51 to go before the break.

By halftime, South Carolina’s lead grew to 38-30. The Crimson Tide blocked shots (5-1 in the first half), minimized turnovers and battled in the paint before the break. All prevented South Carolina from taking over.

Zaay Green key in fourth quarter, but Alabama can’t close

The Crimson Tide gave the Gamecocks plenty to handle, well into the fourth quarter.

In fact, Alabama drew within five early in the final frame after a triple from Zaay Green. And she kept scoring.

A minute later, she made a layup. Ninety seconds later, she made a jumper. Green finished the game with 15 points, five rebounds and three assists. She scored 10 of her points in the second half.

The problem was, South Carolina was making its free throws and Alabama didn’t when the game was close. In a game where the Crimson Tide didn’t have much room for error, it couldn’t afford to miss those. South Carolina finished 19-21 (90%) from the charity stripe while Alabama went 10-for-16 (63%).

Then South Carolina made shots late (a 12-2 run over the final 4:30) while Alabama sunk only one of its final 10 shots.

Forcing turnovers, blocks two strengths for Alabama

A key part of Alabama’s defense: The ability to deny shots and take away the ball.

A variety of players found a way to block shots, including Zaay Green, Essence Cody, Aaliyah Nye and JeAnna Cunningham. Those efforts to deny attempts from South Carolina were vital in the Crimson Tide slowing South Carolina’s offense. The blocks served as one facet of an overall solid defensive effort Alabama put together, finishing with six.

Turnovers were another key. While Alabama limited them, South Carolina had a propensity for giving the ball away. The Gamecocks finished with 15 turnovers to Alabama’s eight. The Crimson Tide held the edge in steals in the game 6-5.

Nick Kelly is an Alabama beat writer for AL.com and the Alabama Media Group. Follow him on X and Instagram.