South Carolina women's basketball earned a commanding 101-61 victory over Southern California in the NCAA Tournament on Monday, sending the team to the Sweet 16. The team was able to rebound and score at will in the paint, and the Trojans had no answer for the Gamecocks all evening.
Looking back at the two teams' first matchup of the season on Nov. 15 in Los Angeles, California, South Carolina earned a 69-52 victory. Southern Cal was ranked No. 8 in the nation at the time. The Gamecocks nearly doubled the Trojans in rebounds, 56-32, and held the team to 33% (22-67) shooting from the field.
Monday's game was not much different. South Carolina did indeed double up Southern Cal 34-17 in rebounds through three quarters, finishing 43-27 overall. The Trojans once again made 22 total shots, this time shooting 37.3% from the field. Senior guard Raven Johnson said the paint presence was a goal of South Carolina's coming in.
"It was the game plan," Johnson said. "Last game we out-rebounded them ... That's huge when it comes to games like this."
In her final career game at Colonial Life Arena, Johnson dished out four assists to aid a team effort that saw six players enter double-figure scoring. One of those players in double figures was senior center Madina Okot. The 6-foot-6 big grabbed eight rebounds just in the first quarter, earning a double-double by halftime with 10 points and 11 rebounds.
"The last time we played them, we won and we out-rebounded them," Okot said. "I feel like that was a big part of us winning, so we had to stick on that."
As a team, South Carolina out-rebounded Southern Cal 17-2 in the first quarter. That interior presence helped the Gamecocks dominate paint scoring as well, as at halftime, 26 of the team's 51 points had come at the rim.
That presence down low additionally had an affect on the Trojans' scoring. The team's inability to get to the rim limited its opportunities at the free-throw line, with only two attempts through three quarters. That was a stark comparison to South Carolina's 27 free-throw attempts for an added 23 points.
"Last time we played them, we knew they had a guard guarding me," sophomore forward Joyce Edwards said. "There were plenty of mismatches all over the floor ... We kind of emphasized early post-ups and the guards getting us the ball early without the defense being set up, and we just executed that."
Edwards posted an efficient team-high 23 points on 8-12 (67%) shooting, in addition to grabbing 10 rebounds. She notched a block and two steals in the game as well.
By the final buzzer, the Gamecocks had totaled 60 points in the paint to the Trojans' 14. South Carolina earned 21 second-chance points due a total rebound margin of 16. That interior presence helped force turnovers as well, as Southern Cal notched 27 on the day compared to the Gamecocks' 15.
Okot finished the day with 15 points and 15 rebounds in just 22 minutes on the floor. She was 5-6 (83%) from the field, including draining a 3-pointer in the third quarter. Her commanding paint presence allowed for the team's perimeter defense to thrive, as both senior guard Ta'Niya Latson and freshman guard Agot Makeer each grabbed four steals in the game.
The team was also able to hold freshman guard Jazzy Davidson, the Trojans' leading scorer this season, to 16 points on 5-15 (33%) shooting. Four of those five makes came from the 3-throw line. She fell short of her season average in points (18.0) and field goal percentage (40.2%). Just one player shot better than 50% from the field for Southern Cal.
South Carolina's 17 total steals set a program record for the most ever in an NCAA Tournament game. The team will look to build off such defensive prowess in its Sweet 16 game against Oklahoma, the team that scored the most points against the Gamecocks all season and was one of just two teams to defeat them.
"There isn't an opponent out there that we don't feel like we're prepared for because of what we have been challenged with in the regular season and in the SEC tournament," head coach Dawn Staley said.