And then there was one.
No. 5 Vanderbilt fell from the ranks of the undefeated on Sunday afternoon, leaving No. 1 UConn as Division I women’s college basketball’s lone unbeaten. No. 2 South Carolina issued a loud response to their overtime loss to No. 16 Oklahoma by sending the Commodores to their first defeat of the season, 103-74.
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On cold day in Columbia, a fire simmered in every player wearing a South Carolina jersey from the start.
Early in the first quarter, the Gamecocks stole the ball on three-straight Commodore possession, with Ta’Niya Latson nabbing their first takeaway, which she turned into an and-1, before two steals by Agot Makeer led to scores for Tessa Johnson and Latson.
That furious start ensured that an element of the game that needed to be a Vanderbilt advantage if the Commodores were to remain undefeated—the possession game—would, instead, be a South Carolina strength.
South Carolina forced 20 Vandy turnovers, tied for the most times the Commodores had sacrificed the ball all season. More critically, the Gamecocks converted all those Commodore mishaps into 32 points, many of which contributed to South Carolina’s 21 fastbreak points and 56 points in the paint. Vandy, in comparison, tallied just seven fastbreak points and 24 points in the paint.
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The Commodores did some expected damage behind the arc, with their 12-for-25 performance from 3 helping them (somewhat) stave off an absolute obliteration. However, the Gamecocks netted 10 triples of their own, going 10-for-17 from downtown to almost nullify Vandy’s 3-point shooting advantage.
Victorious in the possession game and almost even from behind the arc, South Carolina, unsurprisingly, won the battle of the boards. Despite starting a smaller lineup, with Makeer replacing Madina Okot in the first five, South Carolina grabbed 32 rebounds to Vanderbilt’s 26. From off the bench, Okot still tied for the team lead with seven rebounds.
Vanderbilt’s other potential edge—the team’s ability to supplement the scoring of Mikayla Blakes—also came up mostly empty, further dooming them to their first defeat. Blakes reached 23 points, albeit on 24 shot attempts. Ndjakalenga Mwenentanda was other only other Commodore to scratch double figures with 13 points.
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South Carolina thus shut down Vanderbilt’s path to a potential victory, with Latson and Edwards, two players who struggled against Oklahoma captaining the Carolina win. Latson finished with 21 points, five assists and five rebounds, with Edwards scoring 16 points, snatching seven rebounds and dishing six assists. T. Johnson led the Gamecocks’ behind-the-arc efficiency, with four triples and 20 points. Okot complement her work on the boards with 17 points on 8-for-9 shooting.
All that production powered South Carolina past the century mark in the win, which, despite their stumble against the Sooners, should keep them in the top five ahead of a friendlier stretch of SEC play, beginning with a trip to Auburn on Thursday.
Vanderbilt will have reaffirm their contender quality at No. 18 Ole Miss on Thursday.
