The No. 7 South Carolina women's basketball team faced a tough test on Sunday in the top-25 matchup against No. 15 Tennessee. The competition proved to be even tougher as the Gamecocks announced their already short bench would be even shorter, as A'ja Wilson would not be playing. The lack of extra players proved to be a challenge as the Gamecocks started to look fatigued and the Lady Vols went on to win 65-46.
Wilson did not make the trip to Tennessee due to vertigo. The Gamecocks said this was not the first time she has experienced these symptoms, and she did not make the trip for precautionary reasons. Head coach Dawn Staley said Wilson is day-to-day.
The Gamecocks looked to be in control and ended the first half with a 26-21 lead, holding the Lady Vols to their lowest point total in a first quarter for the season. However, the Gamecocks did not make a basket in the final 2:30 of the half.
Those late struggles would continue into the second half. With 2:13 left in the third quarter, they had the same amount of turnovers as points, which was only four. By the end of the third quarter, Tennessee had outscored the Gamecocks 29-9 and that five point halftime lead became a 15 point deficit. The Gamecocks would never get the deficit down to single digits, as the closest they came was 11.
Tyasha Harris said that Tennessee came ready to play in the second half, something that they weren't fully ready for, and the difference was that the Lady Vols were able to continue to make their shots.
"[Tennessee] came out ready to attack, and they kind of put us on our heels," Harris said.
The Gamecocks finished with a season-high 21 turnovers and a season-low 46 points. South Carolina was also out rebounded 46-31. Staley thought turnovers and rebounding were what caused the swing in the third.
"They just out-hustled us," Staley said. "When we're undermanned like that, we have to win the hustle plays. We have to box out. It doesn't matter if we score a whole lot of points, we just can't allow them to have multiple opportunities at the basket."
Despite the loss, there were some bright spots as the Gamecocks look ahead to the postseason. Mikiah Herbert-Harrigan led the team with 17 points, followed by Doniyah Cliney with 14. Tyasha Harris had seven assists, all of which are positive signs as the Gamecocks start to picture a team without Wilson.
Despite this being a big game, the Gamecocks did not have much at stake since they had locked down the No. 2 seed in the SEC tournament due to Georgia winning earlier in the day. South Carolina (23-6, 12-4 SEC) will start its SEC Tournament run on Friday against the winner of Auburn and Tennessee.