South Carolina women's basketball captured a massive Southeastern Conference victory Saturday when the team defeated No. 6 LSU on the road. The win was the team's fourth this season over a top-10 ranked opponent in the AP Top 25 and the first in a true road environment, excluding neutral sites.
With a sold-out crowd of 13,200 fans at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center, the Gamecocks topped the Tigers 79-72 in a game that pushed the team further out in front of its conference mates.
If LSU had won, its conference record would've jumped to 9-3, just one game behind South Carolina's hypothetical record of 10-2. Instead, South Carolina's 11-1 record makes it the only team in the SEC with fewer than three conference losses.
Vanderbilt
The No. 5 Vanderbilt Commodores (24-3, 10-3) join the Gamecocks as the only SEC team with double-digit wins in conference play. The team is led by the nation's leading scorer, sophomore guard Mikayla Blakes. Averaging 26.3 points per game, her 709 total points scored this season are 76 more than the SEC's second-leading scorer.
Vanderbilt began its season 20-0, the best start in school history. The win streak lasted until the team ran into South Carolina, which handed the Commodores a 29-point loss on Jan. 25 at Colonial Life Arena.
"It was an incredible environment," Vanderbilt head coach Shea Ralph said. "Credit to South Carolina because I thought they played very well, maybe the best they've played all season ... There just wasn't an answer today."
Returning home after the loss, the Commodores were defeated by No. 17 Ole Miss by a score of 83-75. The two-game losing streak was followed by a four-game win streak that included victories over No. 16 Kentucky, No. 10 Oklahoma and No. 4 Texas.
In Athens, Georgia, this past Sunday, Georgia earned a 76-74 upset over Vanderbilt. Blakes didn't make a field goal in the first, third or fourth quarters in the game, but she still managed a 27-point performance that included 19 free throw makes.
"Every team in this league is really good," Ralph said. "That's what I love about it ... We can beat every team, but we can also lose to every team. That's just the reality of playing in the SEC."
The team remains second in the SEC behind the Gamecocks following the loss. Vanderbilt will next face No. 16 Kentucky on Sunday.
Texas
The No. 4 Texas Longhorns (24-3, 9-3) sit in third place in the SEC. Coming off a trip to the 2025 NCAA Final Four, the team began 18-0. The Longhorns handed South Carolina its first loss of the season when the two teams faced off in Las Vegas, Nevada, for the Players Era Championship on Nov 27.
Texas suffered its first loss of the year in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, when LSU defeated the team 70-65 on Jan 11. Four days later, the Gamecocks would get their revenge and defeat the Longhorns 68-65 in Columbia.
"I'm very proud of my kids," Texas head coach Vic Schaefer said. "I can't fault my kids tonight... when I walk off that floor tonight, I know I got a hell of a team."
Since the two losses, Texas has gone 6-1 with wins over No. 10 Oklahoma, No. 5 LSU, No. 18 Kentucky and No. 22 Tennessee. The team lost to No. 5 Vanderbilt on Feb. 12, and Schaefer's sentiment had changed compared to when the team lost to South Carolina.
"I feel like my team was out-toughed," Schaefer said. "The other team played harder, and just, quite frankly, we had no heart. You want to ask me, 'What does it take to win at this level? What's it gonna take for my team?' You got to have heart; we got no heart."
The SEC's third-place team will take on Arkansas on the road this Thursday.
LSU
The No. 7 LSU Tigers dropped to fourth in the conference following their loss to the Gamecocks on Feb. 15. Ten days prior, the team was defeated by 13 when it traveled to play No. 4 Texas. The Longhorns' win was revenge for LSU's victory over the team on Jan. 11.
LSU began its season with eight consecutive games scoring over 100 points, the longest streak in NCAA history. The team was 14-0 before dropping games at home to No. 12 Kentucky and on the road to No. 11 Vanderbilt.
The Tigers responded with a seven-game win streak that included victories over No. 2 Texas, No. 13 Oklahoma and No. 24 Alabama. LSU defeated the Crimson Tide by 40 points, 103-63. Since that victory, the team has lost two of its last three games.
"I hope kids are hurting," head coach Kim Mulkey said. "I hope, if you're a competitor, you're hurting individually, and then collectively, it's our job as coaches when we get back on that practice floor to make sure we get them back in the right mindset to keep winning a few more basketball games."
No. 17 Ole Miss will host the Tigers Thursday night in Mississippi.
Ole Miss
The No. 17 Ole Miss Rebels (21-6, 8-4) sit in the conference’s fifth spot following a 94-81 win over No. 21 Tennessee at home Tuesday. The Rebels were 14-2 to begin the year before losing on the road to No. 2 Texas on Jan. 4
The team rebounded with a win over No. 5 Oklahoma four days later. Two blemishes remain on Mississippi’s track record, however, with a loss to unranked Kansas State in December and a 21-point loss at unranked Georgia on Jan. 18.
The Rebels have struggled to find consistency in SEC play. The team went on to beat No. 5 Vanderbilt on Jan. 30, only to lose to both No. 21 Alabama and No. 18 Kentucky over the following two weeks.
“At halftime, the only thing I could do was smile, I was like, 'What the hell is going on?'” head coach Yolett McPhee-McCuin said. “'What is this? This is not who we are, this has to be a joke.'”
Having lost two of its last three games, Mississippi rebounded with a victory over the Lady Volunteers.
The Rebels will host No. 7 LSU Thursday before their matchup at Colonial Life Arena with the Gamecocks on Sunday.
South Carolina
South Carolina is in the driver's seat of an SEC that continues to beat up on one another, ironing out the final seeding of the upcoming SEC Tournament from March 4-8. The Gamecocks travel to Tuscaloosa, Alabama, to play No. 25 Alabama Thursday night. The game will tip off at 8:30 p.m. and will be televised on the SEC Network.
The team will then host the No. 17 Ole Miss Rebels Sunday at noon, which will be the third game for the Rebels in a five-day span. South Carolina will round out the schedule, hosting unranked Missouri and traveling to play No. 16 Kentucky.