No. 2 South Carolina women’s basketball closed out No. 4 Texas late in the fourth quarter on Thursday night, earning revenge over the only team to hand it a loss this season.
The 68-65 victory marks the Gamecocks' fourth over Texas across six games in just over a calendar year. Both teams ranked top five in the AP poll in every matchup.
“I’m tired of seeing them,” Texas junior forward Madison Booker said. “It’s always a dog fight.”
Despite her comments, Booker posted another strong performance against the Gamecocks. She dropped 24 points on Thursday, including 8 in the fourth quarter. No other Longhorn scored more than 2 in the final period.
In Texas’ victory over South Carolina earlier this season, senior guard Rori Harmon hit a game-winning 2-point jumper with 0.7 seconds remaining in the Players Era Championship, which fostered an attendance of 1,950 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
A stark contrast on Thursday, Colonial Life Arena packed 17,188 members into the audience, a presence that the Longhorns couldn’t help but feel late game.
“We didn’t want to lose in the CLA in front of all these fans,” senior guard Raven Johnson said.
The Gamecocks kicked off the game with a highly uncharacteristic first quarter. The team went 3-13 from the field, missed four free throws, turned the ball over six times and committed four shooting fouls. The Longhorns led 20-13 thanks to 13 total points between both Booker and Harmon.
Similar to its victory on Nov. 27, Texas ran a full-court press for all 40 minutes of game time, and much like in that game, South Carolina struggled to beat it. The Gamecocks posted ten turnovers in the first half alone. Comparatively, the team only turned the ball over 13 times all game in its previous losing effort to the Longhorns.
"They take away your first and your second option," head coach Dawn Staley said. "So you got to get a little bit deeper into what you're doing and stay poised."
By halftime, South Carolina managed a tie game at 32 apiece. Senior guard Ta’Niya Latson, sophomore forward Joyce Edwards, senior center Madina Okot and Raven Johnson each had 6 points at the break, while the rest of the team combined for a total of 7.
Texas shot an impressive 50% from the field in the first half, compared to the Gamecocks' mark of 34%. South Carolina’s defense prevented the weight of the team’s offensive ineptitude from dragging the team down, and the unit forced 14 first-half turnovers.
In the first matchup between the two teams, there were a combined 28 turnovers in the game. In Thursday’s game, the two teams had combined for 24 by halftime.
"That tells you about both teams' defense," Raven Johnson said. "It was defense versus defense."
Throughout the third quarter, timely baskets from the Gamecocks helped keep the game within reach. Freshman guard Agot Makeer had 5 points in the third period, of which included a converted and-1 following a swift crossover move to the basket. Latson led the team in scoring in the third quarter with 6 points.
The Gamecocks trailed 49-48 entering the fourth quarter. Texas’ Booker had 9 points in the third quarter, while the rest of the Longhorns scored just 8 in the period. In the fourth quarter, Booker got the scoring started with a fade away jumper, lifting her team to a 3-point lead.
Junior guard Tessa Johnson hit her third 3-pointer of the night shortly after Booker’s score, tying the game at 55 with just under seven minutes left to play. Tessa Johnson finished with 13 points in the game on 4-5 shooting.
South Carolina turned the ball over eight times in the third quarter alone and notched their 19th giveaway of the game early in the fourth quarter. After this, the team largely took care of the ball and limited itself to just one more for the rest of the night .
After impactful contributions from Makeer and Latson in quarter three, only four players scored for the team in the fourth quarter.
The team’s prominent contributors showed up when it mattered most, including Okot hitting just her third 3-pointer of the season late in the final period. The triple with 3:21 to play put South Carolina up multiple scores for the first time since early in the first quarter, and Texas never tied or led the game again from that point on.
Raven Johnson scored back-to-back clutch, contested layups with under a minute left to hold off relentless efforts from Booker. Booker ended the game with 24 points, the most of any Longhorn, with 17 of those points coming in the second half.
"We won the game just gutting it out," Staley said. "Making plays by different people, it wasn't just one."
The Gamecocks' fourth quarter effort included shooting 50% from the field and 67% from three. Despite the 16 percentage point difference in the two team's field goal percentages at halftime, South Carolina (44%) managed to finish with a higher rate of success than the Longhorns (43%).
Texas out-rebounded the Gamecocks 34-29 and shot 92% at the charity stripe compared to South Carolina's 69%. The Gamecocks barely outpaced the Longhorns in total assists, steals, blocks, defensive rebounds and total turnovers. South Carolina notched 15 points on fast breaks compared to 4 by the Longhorns.
The victory moved Staley to a 17-5 record over Texas head coach Vic Schaefer dating back to his time at Mississippi State, which includes an 8-0 record in the postseason. South Carolina has now defeated Texas four times in a span of one year and three days.
"It comes down to grit and the will to win," Raven Johnson said. "Coach did a really good job at the X-and-Os."