Saturday night’s contest between No. 2 South Carolina and No. 8 Southern Cal was a historic one.
Both teams entered the matchup undefeated and ready to play at crypto.com Arena in downtown Los Angeles.
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The Gamecocks turned up the intensity in the second half and came out on top 69-52 in the battle to be “the Real SC.” Joyce Edwards was dominant with 17 points and 10 rebounds. Raven Johnson also had a great game, ending the night with 14 points and 11 rebounds.
For USC, Kennedy Smith led the team in scoring with 12 points. Jazzy Davidson struggled, going 4-for-11 from the field. She finished with just eight points.
South Carolina improves to 4-0, and USC is now 2-1.
Why South Carolina can claim to be “the Real SC”
Johnson got going right away in this one, scoring the first five points for the Gamecocks. As the Trojans struggled to score early, the Gamecocks were up 11-4 midway through the first quarter.
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Kara Dunn and Vivian Iwuchukwu formed a dynamic duo for USC. They combined to score the next 12 USC points, keeping the Trojans in the game. South Carolina led 20-16 entering the second quarter. Consecutive layups by Agot Makeer and Maryam Dauda then gave South Carolina an eight-point lead. Then Londynn Jones scored inside for USC, and after a Gamecocks miss, Davidson went coast-to-coast and scored her first points of the night.
Offense stalled a bit midway through the second for both teams, but thanks to a Laura Williams basket, USC evened the game at 26. Edwards and Tessa Johnson scored on four free throws down the stretch for the Gamecocks, but a Malia Samuels floater at the buzzer brought the Trojans within two at the break, 32-30.
In the third quarter, South Carolina turned up the heat. Edwards scored four-consecutive points, and after a Johnson tip-in, the Gamecocks were up by double figures.
Davidson got it going a bit, scoring on a couple of baskets to keep USC in it for awhile longer, but they couldn’t close the gap and were down by 10 entering the fourth.
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Smith scored four-straight for USC in the final quarter, but after that, the Trojans went completely cold, missing their next six field goal attempts. Davidson ended the scoring drought with a layup, but with Ta’Niya Latson and Johnson scoring immediately after, the Trojans were down by 16 with under three minutes to go.
The Trojans didn’t have a run in them, and the Gamecocks cruised to a victory.
South Carolina is the superior SC
USC is still a developing team. Jones is a transfer from UCLA, Davidson is a freshman and the other players who returned from last season are learning how to play without JuJu Watkins. South Carolina is just at another level compared to them right now, and that was evident as the game progressed.
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Davidson had some nice baskets in the second half, but early foul trouble limited her during the first two quarters. Defending without fouling will be something she has to work on.
The battle of SC was a fun one, but South Carolina did what they usually do—and that’s win.
