Perfect no more: No. 5 Vanderbilt's undefeated season ends in 103-74 blowout loss to No. 2 South Carolina

Vanderbilt suffered its first loss of the season at the hands of South Carolina on Sunday afternoon, with the No. 2 Gamecocks dominating the No. 5 Commodores, 103-74.

Vanderbilt came into the game 20-0, which was the best start in program history, and the Commodores were one of the last two undefeated teams remaining in women's college basketball. The only one still standing is No. 1 UConn, the reigning national champions.

"We have won 20 games," Vanderbilt coach Shea Ralph told reporters postgame. "We're 20-1. The world is not ending. We are going to be fine."

Five Gamecocks scored in double figures, led by Ta'Niya Latson and Tessa Johnson, who combined for 41 points. Mikayla Blakes led Vanderbilt's effort with 23 points, which marked her 16th 20+ point game of the season.

South Carolina was bouncing back from a 94-82 overtime loss to Oklahoma earlier in the week. Dawn Staley's program has not lost back-to-back games since the 2018-19 season and Sunday's result helped the Gamecocks keep that streak going. 

They moved the ball well with 25 assists, more than double the 12 they had in the loss to the Sooners. The Gamecocks were able to speed up Vanderbilt, which helped them get 24 points off 16 turnovers in the first half. This put the Commodores in an unusual situation since they entered the game only averaging 12.5 turnovers per game. Vanderbilt finished the game with 20 turnovers that led to 32 South Carolina points.

South Carolina held a 55-44 lead at the break, with 28 of those points coming from the paint. By the end of the night, the Gamecocks had won the battle in the paint 56-24. However, their shots were also working from elsewhere as they had 10 3-pointers, which is more than their 5.9 per game average this season.

Ralph said she was surprised by her team's poor defensive performance, which she described as an "absolute disaster." Mental strength and staying locked in even when they are down is also something the coach wants to see from her team as they move forward.

"At points in the game it looked like we quit," she said. "That can't be who we are."

This was the Gamecocks' 5th win against a ranked opponent this season, while Vanderbilt has two. Both teams still have plenty of time to add more quality wins before March because the SEC is impressively deep with nine teams ranked in the AP Top 25 this week.

Up next, South Carolina will hit the road to take on Auburn on Thursday. That same night, Vanderbilt will have a chance to bounce back with a road matchup against No. 18 Ole Miss.