As the crowd started to file into Colonial Life Arena to see the South Carolina women's basketball team take on Western Carolina on Thursday, it was announced that Lindsey Spann would be out of the starting lineup with a sprained knee.
Spann, who is considered "day-to-day," was averaging 13.6 points per game prior to her injury and was leading the SEC in 3-point field goal percentage at 55 percent.
In her absence, Bianca Jackson made her first career start. Jackson finished with seven points, four rebounds and three assists en route to South Carolina's 101-43 win over the Catamounts.
Western Carolina played a 2-3 zone for most of the night, trying to force the Gamecocks to shoot from the perimeter. The Gamecocks struggled from beyond the arc, shooting 25 percent from 3-point land, which is half of their normal percentage from that range.
But they more than made up for it with 66 points in the paint against the Catamounts.
A'ja Wilson led the team with 29 points, and also tallied seven rebounds, which tied her for second with Doniyah Cliney and Alexis Jennings.
LaDazhia Williams led the team with eight rebounds, and she added 11 points. Jennings was the next closest to Wilson in points with 19. The only double-double on Thursday belonged to Tyasha Harris, who recorded 10 points and 10 assists.
Despite the game being a blowout win for the Gamecocks, Cliney said she tried to focus on improving regardless of the score.
The win was No. 400 for head coach Dawn Staley, who said the only thought she had was getting win No. 401.
"When we give up as many points as we've given ... we really concentrated on our 'live ball' turnovers (where the ball is not in play anymore like being thrown out of bounds) just defending those and not giving up second chance points," Staley added when asked about the importance of defense in the win.
The 401th win could come on Sunday when the Gamecocks host No. 14 Duke at 12 p.m.