No. 2 South Carolina women’s basketball broke its 31-game SEC win streak on Thursday night by No. 21 Tennessee.
Tennessee beat the Gamecocks 75-67, in South Carolina's first conference loss of the season. With the loss, the Gamecocks fall to 17-3 (12-1 SEC).
Despite taking a double-digit lead into halftime, the Gamecocks were outscored 50-30 in the second half, and the Volunteers took the lead late in the third with a 22-6 run.
“One loss will have huge ramifications in this league and also on the whole national scheme as far as the NCAA tournament,” said South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley, who credited the “disciplined” Lady Volunteers for the team's comeback victory.
Senior guard Rennia Davis led the way for the Volunteers, finishing with 24 points and 12 rebounds with most of her activity coming during a second half charge. Junior guard Rae Burrell added 19 points and three steals and, despite fouling out late in the fourth, sophomore center Tamari Key provided five points, five blocks and constant defensive pressure on sophomore forward Aliyah Boston.
“Midrange, threes, free throw line, attacked at the basket, I mean she’s a senior in this league and she’s done that night in and night out,” Staley said regarding Davis’s performance. “Unfortunately for us, she did it on a night in which they needed it and she willed them to a win.”
The two teams were tied or nearly even in most statistics in the contest, each recording 26 field goals, five blocks, 13 turnovers and 40 rebounds to go along with a slim two-steal advantage for the Gamecocks.
However, Tennessee found its advantage at the free throw line, going 20 for 28, headlined by Davis’ perfect 10 for 10 performance from the charity stripe.
Boston topped the scoring charts for the Gamecocks in the loss with 17 points to go along with 16 rebounds. Sophomore guard Zia Cooke and junior guard Destanni Henderson each added 15 points, with Henderson hitting South Carolina’s lone three three-pointers of the game.
“The biggest problem was we couldn’t make a basketball play, whether it was a simple high-post pass, or we couldn’t make reads," Staley said.
She said the team was able to get the ball to Boston in the high post, but they could not find a way to provide her opportunities in the low post, which proved too difficult of an obstacle to overcome for her team.
South Carolina will return home to face another ranked SEC opponent, No. 17 Kentucky, on Sunday at Colonial Life Arena as they look to get back on track for another SEC regular season title.