Gamecock women's basketball had no interest in replicating the outcome of its Jan. 22 matchup with Oklahoma on Saturday, defeating the team 94-68 in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament. The team cruised to a 26-point victory after a 10-0 start, a lead South Carolina maintained for all four quarters.
South Carolina's loss to the Sooners earlier this season became a defining moment for the team. Oklahoma is one of just two teams to earn victory over the Gamecocks since the season began. After the road loss, South Carolina won 10 straight regular-season games and made a run to the SEC championship game.
The Sooners managed to out-rebound the Gamecocks 54-39 back in January, with senior center Madina Okot grabbing just four total. Senior center Raegan Beers posted a dominant 14 rebounds en route to an overtime win, spearheaded by freshman guard Aaliyah Chavez, who had 26 points on the day, 15 of which came in overtime.
That story was much different on Sunday. Seven points in the first quarter from Chavez spelled trouble, but at 3-9 (33%) from the field, the Gamecocks contained her enough to earn a 10-point lead by the end of the quarter.
In January's game, there were just two Gamecocks to finish the game shooting over 50% from the field: freshman forward Alicia Tournebize and senior guard Raven Johnson. Five players surpassed the 50% mark in Saturday's win, with four of the team's five starters reaching the mark.
By halftime, South Carolina could nearly taste victory with its 19-point lead. Senior guard Ta'Niya Latson's 18 points led the way, with Raven Johnson's 16 not far behind. The pair of former high school teammates had scored or assisted on 88% (15/17) of the Gamecocks' first-half points.
"I woke up on the right side of the bed," Latson said. "My teammates and my coaches, they believed in me. I just had to go out there with confidence."
South Carolina's 51.5% (17-33) mark from the field was an improvement from its 44.1% (15-34) mark in the two teams' last face-off. In that prior matchup, the Gamecocks followed up the game's first 20 minutes by posting a 32.4% combined shooting mark in the second half. The team had gone just 1-7 (14.3%) from beyond the arc in the late-game collapse.
Once again, Saturday was a much different story. South Carolina posted a field-goal percentage of 61.5% (8-13) in the fourth quarter to cap off a second half where the team shot 50% (17-34) overall. A perfect 3-3 from the 3-point line, the team also assisted on 10 of its 17 field goals in the second half. On the day, the Gamecocks notched 21 assists on 34 total scores, good for an assist rate of 61.7%.
South Carolina knocked down 30 shots and assisted on just 12 in this season's loss to Oklahoma. That's an assist rate of 40%, a mark the Gamecocks grew by over 50% on Saturday.
"A lot of times, defenses are a little impatient," head coach Dawn Staley said. "If you can wait a little bit longer, you can get cleaner looks, and everybody feels good because they've touched the ball."
The team cut its free-throw misses in half from six to three between the two games, grew its field-goal percentage from 37% to 50.7% and won the total rebound battle on Saturday 39-36. Okot had 12 rebounds, out-earning Beers' total of eight.
"The last time we played Oklahoma, (Okot) was on a mental struggle bus," Staley said. "It was the whole pressure of playing for us and having to perform at a high level ... She's Raven's roommate for a reason, and she's starting to just talk like Raven about just making an impact and just wanting to win."
Latson's 28 total points are the second most she has scored all season and the most since Dec. 7. The total led the team by the final buzzer, accompanying three other Gamecocks in double figures: Raven Johnson (18), junior guard Tessa Johnson (14) and freshman guard Agot Makeer (10).
In each of the first three NCAA Tournament games of her career, Makeer has reached double-digit points. Raven Johnson's 18 are a career high for her in March Madness.
The first five 3-pointers of the game were all made by different Gamecocks. The mark of 71.4% (10-14) from beyond the arc is the best by the team this season. Additionally, South Carolina's 94-point outing marks the first time in program history the team has earned three straight NCAA Tournament games with over 90 points.
Staley and company will look for continued tournament success when they take on No. 3 seeded TCU in the Elite Eight on Monday. A win would advance the team to the Final Four for the sixth consecutive season.