The No. 2 South Carolina women's basketball team lost its second game of the season 94-82 against the No. 16 Oklahoma Sooners in a road matchup at Lloyd Noble Center in Norman, Oklahoma.
South Carolina started hot, with junior guard Tessa Johnson making two 3-pointers in the first two and a half minutes of the game to give South Carolina a 10-6 lead.
But Oklahoma fought back, with efforts in the paint from senior center Raegan Beers and a pair of short jumpers from redshirt senior guard Payton Verhulst, giving the Sooners the 13-12 lead.
From there, sophomore forward Joyce Edwards and senior guard Raven Johnson scored 6 of their 8 combined first quarter points to give South Carolina a narrow 20-17 advantage in that opening frame.
In the second quarter, Oklahoma tried to continue working on the fundamentals of its offense and defense and took a 26-24 lead after three minutes with a 3-pointer from sophomore guard Zya Vann. But due to Verhulst and Beers accumulating two fouls later on in the half, both were substituted out by the midway point of the second quarter, slowing the Sooners down.
South Carolina took advantage, and freshman forward Alicia Tournebize scored 7 points on 3-4 field goal shooting, 4 of those points contributing to a run which brought the Gamecock lead to 34-26 with 4:56 left.
Junior forward Sahara Williams added a layup, and Vann scored another 3-pointer to cut the lead to 34-31 in a high-paced second quarter, but Tournebize replied to expand the South Carolina lead to 5. Both teams continued to trade baskets with Sahara Williams hitting a jumper to cut the lead to 2, 38-36, with two minutes left.
Edwards and senior guard Ta'Niya Latson scored five straight points from free throws in the final 90 seconds of the second quarter to help extend the South Carolina lead to 43-36 going into halftime.
The third quarter was primarily played on Oklahoma's terms, and the Sooners got to play fast and physical. Oklahoma opened the quarter with an 8-0 run featuring an and-one layup and a 3-pointer from freshman guard Aaliyah Chavez to give Oklahoma a 44-43 lead.
Even though a pair of layups from senior center Madina Okot gave South Carolina a narrow lead back at 47-44, Oklahoma scored points quickly, and a pair of baskets from Williams and Vann gave Oklahoma the lead back over the Gamecocks at 47-48.
South Carolina and Oklahoma continued to quickly trade baskets for the rest of the quarter, but the work of Beers and Williams late in the third quarter, gave Oklahoma a 2-point lead going into the fourth quarter, 61-59.
In the fourth quarter, Beers and Verhulst both got an extended run despite the risk of picking up more fouls, and they performed. 10 points were scored between the pair, in addition to a timely Chavez jumper, to give the Sooners a 73-67 lead with 3:54 left in the game.
The Gamecocks did not go away quietly though, forcing turnovers and getting out in transition. Raven Johnson made two baskets, Latson scored a layup and Edwards drew a foul in transition and made both free throws to make up a 8-0 run that gave South Carolina a 75-73 lead with 41 seconds left.
Beers scored a putback layup with 18 seconds left, and Oklahoma would get a stop on the final possession to force overtime, with the game tied at 75.
Chavez opened overtime with a 3-pointer and would go on to make three more shots from distance, as well as a layup and a free throw, to put the game out of reach for the Gamecocks. The final score was 94-82 in favor of the Sooners.
What's next?
South Carolina will play undefeated No. 5 Vanderbilt at Colonial Life Arena on Jan. 25 at 3 p.m. The game will be broadcast on ESPN.