No. 2 South Carolina tallied a convincing 67-50 win over No. 5 Texas in Sunday's marquee SEC matchup. This was the Gamecocks' 67th straight victory at home and their record-extending 51st consecutive SEC regular-season win.
Te-Hina Paopao and Chloe Kitts led South Carolina with 11 points apiece, while freshman Joyce Edwards added 10 points off the bench. Defensively, the biggest highlight was Bree Hall holding Texas star Madison Booker to just 3 of 19 shooting.
After its worst offensive performance of the season, Texas fell to 16-2 and 3-1 in the SEC. The Longhorns will try to bounce back Thursday when they face Auburn on the road.
South Carolina improved to 16-1 and 4-0 in conference play. The Gamecocks passed the test against Texas, but their next four games are also against ranked opponents. Dawn Staley's group will face No. 18 Alabama on Thursday. Later this month, South Carolina will have to face No. 6 LSU -- one of the last three major undefeated teams in women's college basketball.
Here are three takeaways from Sunday's game.
Booker, Texas fall flat on offense
The Longhorns opened the game with their lowest-scoring quarter of the season, mustering only nine points on 4 of 26 from the field. Madison Booker, the team's leading scorer, went 0 for 8 in those 10 first-quarter minutes. Texas found itself in a 18-9 deficit after the opening frame and never quite the momentum it needed afterward.
Vic Schaefer's team did not see much improvement in the second quarter as they finished the half 10 of 44 from the field. South Carolina entered the break with a 39-22 advantage on 15 of 21 shooting. Texas did have some good looking shots, but the players seemed rattled and the ball just wasn't going in.
That was Texas' lowest scoring half since its 2021 Elite Eight matchup against the Gamecocks, which South Carolina won 62-34.
Booker finished the game with seven points on 3 of 19 shooting, marking the most missed field goals in the sophomore's career. South Carolina senior guard Bree Hall deserves a lot of the credit as her primary defender. While she didn't exactly stand out in the box score, those who watched the game saw how impactful Hall was in rattling Booker.
"The teammates and coaches have really put a lot of confidence in me." - Bree Hall on her defense
— Alan Cole (@Alan__Cole) January 12, 2025
Said she was up late last night watching Madison Booker highlights on YouTube.
South Carolina rides 10-player rotation to glory
The Gamecocks starters did their job with Paopao as an efficient scorer and Kitts matching her team-high 11 points. Raven Johnson flirted with a double-double with eight points and 10 rebounds, and as previously discussed, Hall did an excellent job defending Madison Booker. Meanwhile, Sania Feagin accomplished a little big of everything with eight points, nine rebounds, three assists, six blocks and one steal.
But this being South Carolina, the highlights don't stop there. The Gamecocks entered this game averaging 43.4 points off the bench, tops in Division I. Eight Gamecocks scored against Texas on Sunday, and seven of them tallied at least seven points.
Edwards comes off the bench but has been the team's leading scorer this season. The freshman scored 10 points on Sunday, which was her 11th game reaching double figures in scoring. With Ashlyn Watkins done for the season because of a torn ACL, Edwards' role on the team will continue to grow.
Meanwhile, MiLaysia Fulwiley gave the Gamecocks eight points, four rebounds and three steals while showing off her athleticism and how good she is in transition. Her mere presence on the floor brings energy to the team and the crowd. As Staley has said multiple times before, her bench players have the talent to be starters on any program.
OH-MI-LAYSIA 😱
— South Carolina Women's Basketball (@GamecockWBB) January 12, 2025
📺 @ESPN pic.twitter.com/ZeskdVwN8d
Gamecocks prevail despite mistakes
It says a lot that Staley's group had 28 less field goal attempts than Texas and still dominated the game. South Carolina won handily despite committing mistakes that would have been costly for many other teams.
The first quarter wasn't just Texas struggling, as South Carolina had a four-minute field goal drought late in the period. The team also had a slow start after the break. Over the first two-and-a-half minutes of the third quarter, the Gamecocks had three turnovers and zero points.
By the end of the day, South Carolina registered a total of 22 turnovers and just 12 assists. Texas also beat South Carolina 20-6 on the offensive glass. The Gamecocks had zero second-chance points in the first three quarters.
