The South Carolina women’s basketball team defeated No. 19 Tennessee at home on Sunday afternoon by a score of 93-50.
The Volunteers got on the board first when senior forward Janiah Barker hit a mid-range jumper. South Carolina answered back when senior guard Raven Johnson put back a miss by senior guard Ta’Niya Latson for an and-one, taking a 3-2 lead.
Seconds later, Raven Johnson stole the Volunteers' inbound pass and passed it to Latson under the hoop to go up 5-2.
Tennessee regained the lead with 6:31 to play when freshman guard Jaida Civil drained a 3-pointer, pushing the score to 8-7 Volunteers.
The two teams traded triples, one by Tennessee’s redshirt junior guard Talaysia Cooper and another by South Carolina’s junior guard Tessa Johnson.
Tennessee tied the game at 16 with a made free throw. In the waning three minutes of the first quarter, the Gamecocks outscored the Volunteers 9-2 and entered the second period with a 7-point lead at 25-18.
Barker was up to 10 points after notching the first points of the second quarter with a pair of free throws.
The Volunteers’ full-court press efforts made it difficult for the Gamecocks early, but not for long. Tessa Johnson hit sophomore forward Joyce Edwards under the basket to take a 31-24 lead, beating the press in the process.
Raven Johnson made a pass to Latson who then hit a reverse layup to give the Gamecocks their first double-digit lead of the day. Tennessee hadn’t scored in over two minutes, and after two air-balled triples and three straight made baskets by South Carolina, the Gamecocks led 43-29.
By halftime, South Carolina led 47-32. The Gamecocks ended the period making five of their last seven attempts while the Volunteers had made one of their last five.
No player for Tennessee scored more than 3 points in the second quarter. The Volunteers shot 31.5% from the field and 20% from the 3-point line in the period. Comparatively, the Gamecocks missed just three shots, shooting 72.7% in the second quarter.
At the midway mark, both teams had turned the ball over 10 times. The Gamecocks had more success on fast breaks, scoring 18 on such possessions compared to Tennessee’s 8.
Latson led all scorers with 11 at half, not far ahead of Edwards, Tessa Johnson and Raven Johnson, all of whom had 9. Edwards and Raven Johnson both had three assists.
The third quarter was a one-sided affair. The Gamecocks scored five straight to begin the period, forcing Tennessee to call a timeout just 93 seconds after halftime.
After the timeout, a block by senior center Madina Okot led to a basket for South Carolina. Cooper remained a bright spot for the Volunteers and drained a 3-pointer, but the Gamecocks answered with baskets by Tessa Johnson and Latson.
As a result, Tennessee was forced to use another timeout at the 5:48 mark. South Carolina had a 61-35 lead, and Latson had 15 points along with three steals. Tennessee had more turnovers than made field goals in the game at that point.
Freshman forward Alicia Tournebize earned her first points of the day with a 3-pointer at the 2:46 mark in the third quarter. The score pushed the lead over 30 for the first time at 66-35.
The Gamecocks outscored the Volunteers 24-9 in the third quarter. Tennessee shot 18.8% out of 16 attempts, with 14 coming from beyond the arc. South Carolina had as many misses as the Volunteers did makes, shooting 13-16 in the period.
In the third, the Gamecocks led points in the paint 16-0 and points off turnovers 8-0. This led to the Gamecocks entering the fourth quarter up 71-41.
To start the fourth quarter, Tournebize knocked down another 3-pointer. She finished with 8 points on the day along with two rebounds.
The game’s final period continued the trend set in the third. South Carolina scored 18 points unanswered to begin the period, and the Volunteers missed their first 10 shots. With 4:42 to play, the Gamecocks led 89-41.
The Volunteers finished the game with just six total made baskets in the second half, three in each quarter. The 93-50 victory for the Gamecocks marked their largest win over a ranked opponent in program history and the largest loss in Tennessee’s program history.
What's next?
South Carolina hits the road to take on No. 5 LSU (21-3) in a pivotal SEC match up on Saturday at 8:30 p.m. on ABC. The Gamecocks now control their own destiny in pursuance of the conference's regular season title with Sunday's win over the Volunteers.