South Carolina women's basketball makes history in massive LSU victory

01/24/2025 07:57 PM

One of the biggest games on the calendar this women’s basketball season lived up to the hype on Friday as South Carolina knocked off LSU 66-56 in front of a sold out home crowd in Columbia. After LSU’s offense performed well in the first quarter, Dawn Staley’s squad suffocated the Tigers on the defensive end of the floor for the rest of the game to get the win.

This win marked South Carolina’s 14th straight win by 10 points or more, which is a new program record according to ESPN’s Alexa Philippou. Those 14 games date all the way back too South Carolina’s loss to No. 1-ranked UCLA on Nov. 24, an the Bruins are now the only remaining unbeaten team in women’s college basketball after LSU’s loss today.

South Carolina hasn’t exactly been beating up on bad teams to get the streak either. During that 14-game stretch, the Gamecocks have collected impressive and decisive wins over seven teams that were ranked in the top 25 at the time of playing and four teams that were inside the top 10. Staley’s group will have another tough test on Monday against No. 17 Tennessee on the road.

South Carolina won this game in two areas: depth and defense. The Gamecocks held LSU under 30% shooting for the first time in 126 games under Kim Mulkey, per Phillippou. Staley’s squad also outscored LSU in bench points 31-2.

This defensive performance is a great sign for South Carolina as it pushes towards its second consecutive national championship. The Gamecocks proved once again that when they are locked in, they can shut down just about any offense, even one as talented as LSU’s.

This result also puts South Carolina in the driver’s seat for the SEC regular season title. This is the only meeting on the schedule between LSU and South Carolina, so the Gamecocks should be able to hang onto that lead the rest of the way. South Carolina also already has a win over Texas, so a good portion of its difficult matchups are already out of the way. Even if South Carolina meets wither of those teams in the SEC Tournament, this recent hot streak should give it confidence heading into those matchups.

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