COLUMBIA, S.C. – No. 19/17 Tennessee could not contain a hot-shooting South Carolina squad on Sunday, as the No. 3/3 Gamecocks shot 69.2 percent from the field and raced to a 93-50 win in front of 16,206 at Colonial Life Arena.
The Lady Vols (15-6, 7-2 SEC), who jockeyed with USC in a first quarter that had nine lead changes before losing touch with USC, was led by Turbeville, S.C., native Talaysia Cooper with 17 points. Janiah Barker added 10 and pulled down a team-high six rebounds.
South Carolina (24-2, 10-1) placed all five starters in double figures, led by 21 from Ta’Niya Latson. Joyce Edwards chipped in 20, while Tessa Johnson, Raven Johnson and Madina Okot added 14, 13 and 10, respectively.
Tennessee struck first on a Barker turnaround jumper, fell behind by three and then seized first-quarter leads four more times, with the latest on a Cooper three from the top of the key to make it 15-13 with 3:54 remaining before Johnson’s trey sent South Carolina into the 3:32 media timeout with a 16-15 edge. Jaida Civil hit one of two free-throw attempts out of the break to even the score at 16, but the Gamecocks responded by scoring four straight to build a 20-16 lead by the 2:12 mark. After a Barker layup closed the gap to two, USC reeled off five straight to forge a 25-18 lead by the end of the opening stanza.
A pair of Barker free throws trimmed the deficit to five at the outset of the second stanza, and a layup from Deniya Prawl and a Cooper steal and score helped close the gap to three, 27-24, with 8:24 to go. South Carolina punched back, though, twice building nine-point leads, including 33-24 with 6:08 left. A three from Zee Spearman and a bucket inside by Alyssa Latham, however, pulled Tennessee to within seven, 36-29, by the 4:41 media break. The Gamecocks responded with a five-point run out of the timeout, extending their lead to 11, 41-29, and forcing a timeout with 2:49 to go. After USC added two more out of the break, Nya Robertson’s three halted the spree and made it 43-32, with 1:36 left. The hosts, though, added two more buckets to build a game-best 15-point lead and close out the half on top, 47-32.
South Carolina scored the first six points out of the intermission, extending its half-bridging run to 10 points and separating by 21, 53-32, to force a Tennessee timeout with 8:27 remaining in the third period. The Gamecocks pushed the spree to 14 and lead to 25, 57-32, until a Cooper three-ball gave the Lady Vols a response. After that bucket, USC reeled off two more scores to force another timeout with 5:48 left and UT trailing, 61-35. Tennessee got threes from Lauren Hurst and Cooper, but the hosts ended the frame up 30, 71-41.
The Gamecocks held the Lady Vols scoreless over the first five minutes of the final period, taking an 87-41 lead into the 4:55 media break. UT finally ended its scoring drought with a Robertson trey with 2:54 remaining, but USC was able to close out the home win with its fourth period of 60-percent shooting for the game.
NEXT UP
Tennessee returns home for its next two games, beginning with a Thursday night contest vs. Missouri at Food City Center. February is Black History Month, and UT will reveal its Lady Vol Hidden Figure to commemorate the occasion. The Big Orange and Tigers will meet at 6:30 p.m. ET in a contest broadcast on SECN+. The game also will be carried on Lady Vol Radio Network stations with audio streaming available on UTSports.com. Lady Vol coverage on 99.5FM WGRV begins at 6pm.
