The No. 1 seed South Carolina women's basketball team defeated No. 9 seed Southern California 101-61 on Monday at Colonial Life Arena. The win sends the Gamecocks to the Sweet 16 for the 12th consecutive season.
Gamecock senior center Madina Okot scored the game’s first points at the charity stripe with a pair of free throws after the two teams traded turnovers on their first offensive possessions. She scored again one possession later to put South Carolina up 4-0.
Sophomore forward Joyce Edwards notched her first points of the day off an assist from senior guard Raven Johnson just over three minutes into the game. She scored again to put South Carolina up 8-0, then Raven Johnson nailed a mid-range jumper to push the lead to double digits.
The Trojans were held scoreless for the game’s first 5:47 before getting on the board with a mid-range 2-pointer from sophomore guard Kennedy Smith. The team started 1-7 with five turnovers, and with 3:40 left in the first, the Gamecocks led 13-2.
Junior guard Tessa Johnson drained her first 3-pointer of the day with just over two minutes left in the quarter. South Carolina was up to a 22-6 lead after 4 straight points from Edwards.
The Trojans trailed the Gamecocks 26-8 at the end of the first quarter. South Carolina had grabbed 17 rebounds to Southern Cal’s two.
Okot had eight boards of her own, five coming on offense. She added 6 points, complementing Edwards’ 9.
Akin to the first quarter, the scoring in the second quarter opened with a pair of makes by Okot at the free-throw line. Raven Johnson then hit a 3-pointer to push the lead to 21.
Freshman guard Jazzy Davidson got on the board for the first time with a 3-pointer shortly after a Trojan timeout. The team’s leading scorer on the season started out 0-4 from the field.
At the second quarter’s midway media timeout, South Carolina had a scoring drought of 2:13 and Southern Cal had cut the lead to 15. After the break, a Raven Johnson steal led to Edwards points at the line.
Senior guard Ta’Niya Latson got going with a layup make on the team’s next trip down the court, doing so on consecutive possessions for 4 straight points.
Davidson sent Edwards to the free-throw line once again by committing her third foul of the game, checking out immediately after. Then, freshman guard Agot Makeer’s third steal of the game lead to Latson’s third score of the quarter, and South Carolina led 42-21 with 2:40 to play before halftime.
Raven Johnson forced Southern Cal to call another timeout when she stole the ball at mid-court and finished with a layup at the other end. The team was on a 9-0 run, having forced three turnovers in under two minutes.
Tessa Johnson drained a 3-pointer to put the Gamecocks up by 28, before Okot scored off another Makeer steal to push the lead to 30. The team ended the half on a 16-0 run and led 51-21 at the break.
The Trojans had turned the ball over 15 times after two quarters. The team made one of its final eight shots before half time.
Okot notched a 10-point, 11-rebound double-double in 13 minutes on the floor. She alone was out-rebounding Southern Cal, who had 10 rebounds as a team. Edwards added five rebounds along with 14 points, the most of all players.
For the Trojans, Smith had taken 10 of the team’s 27 shots, scoring a team-high 9 points. Davidson was 2-8 for 6 points off two made triples.
Tessa Johnson and Edwards each scored to start the second half. A little under four minutes into the third quarter, Okot drained a triple to push the Gamecocks’ total to 60 and the team’s lead to 36.
Edwards was up to 20 points on the day after an and-1 score under the basket shortly before the quarter’s midpoint media timeout. Five minutes into the third, Davidson had 5 points, helping the Trojans keep pace with the Gamecocks.
South Carolina then pioneered an 11-0 run to push the game well out of reach. The team made five consecutive shots, each by a different player, taking a 73-31 lead with 2:05 left in the third quarter.
Latson ended the third quarter with her third steal of the game, laying it in at the other end to hit 10 points on the day. The Gamecocks led by 40 entering the fourth quarter.
Okot laid in a score to kick things off in the fourth. Scores by Latson and Makeer followed, with Makeer up to 13 points in 20 minutes.
Senior forward Maryam Dauda put in consecutive and-1's late in the fourth to put the Gamecocks up 45. She had 10 points, her second most in a game this season.
South Carolina had six players in double-figure scoring by the final buzzer. The 101-61 victory sends the team to the Sweet 16.
What's next?
The Gamecocks will play No. 4 seed Oklahoma in Sacramento, California, on March 28 at 5 or 7:30 p.m. on ESPN. The winner will advance to the Elite Eight against one of either No. 3 seed TCU or No. 10 seed Virginia.