Pair of double-doubles lead No. 21 South Carolina to victory

Updated: Dec 21, 2012, 03:37 pm

COLUMBIA, S.C. -- Tiffany Mitchell scored 21 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, Aleighsa Welch also finished with a double-double and No. 21 South Carolina beat South Carolina State 65-45 on Friday.

Welch finished with 16 points and 14 rebounds -- eight offensive -- for the Gamecocks (11-1), who bounced back with a strong performance after losing to No. 1 Stanford 53-49 this week. Elem Ibiam scored 11 points and Ieasia Walker had six steals.

South Carolina State's Paris Alston made a jumper to cut the score to 26-21 with 2:47 left in the first half. But South Carolina held the Bulldogs scoreless for nearly eight minutes between the two halves, scoring 15 straight points to claim a 20-point lead -- its largest of the contest.

South Carolina State did not score until Tiara Knott made a layup with 15:02 left in the game.

Knott finished with 14 points before fouling out for the Bulldogs (8-3).