South Carolina shook off a miserable shooting start to beat Clemson 77-45 and set a new program-record winning streak.
South Carolina won its 43rd consecutive game, dating back to the Final Four loss to Iowa in Dallas in 2023. That broke the program record, set from 2022-23. The winning streak is the seventh-longest in NCAA history and second-longest in SEC history (Tennessee, 46).
“I don’t think about it,” Dawn Staley said. “But to have two of them is pretty special. It means that our players make a commitment to team, they make a commitment to us, they make a commitment to each other. When you do it that way you can have this type of historical moment.”
South Carolina has a 33-game road winning streak, the third-longest in NCAA history.
South Carolina and Connecticut are the only programs with multiple 40-game win streaks (Connecticut has four). South Carolina has won 84 of its last 85 games and is 113-3 over the last four seasons. South Carolina hasn’t lost any game in 600 days and hasn’t lost a regular season game in 1,056 days.
Dating back to 2010, South Carolina has won 14 straight against Clemson, which is by far the longest streak in the series. The next longest was a seven-game winning streak by Clemson from 1996-2001.
For most of the first half, South Carolina couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn. The Gamecocks’ shooting percentage hovered near 20%, and midway through the second quarter they trailed 17-12 and were shooting 6-30 from the floor.
“You’re getting everybody’s best at the beginning of the game,” Staley said. “Sometimes we get out of sorts and sometimes we’re more tight than we need to be. Once we settle in we can see things coming at us and we can make adjustments.”
Then Bree Hall woke the Gamecocks up with a short jumper in the lane. She earned the nickname “Big Shot Breezy,” for her fourth-quarter baskets, but this one was just as important.
“It felt good,” Hall said. “It kind of took the lid off the rim so I think it got us going.”
Te-Hina Paopao followed with a transition layup, drawing the foul. She missed the game-tying free throw, but Ashlyn Watkins grabbed the offensive rebound to put South Carolina ahead 18-17.
The sequence set off a 17-0 run that was capped off by a Tessa Johnson three at the halftime buzzer, South Carolina’s first three of the game. During the run, which lasted the final 4:58 of the second quarter, South Carolina shot 8-15 and outrebounded Clemson 13-2.
“They’re going to go in. When Tessa hit that (three at the) buzzer it was like a breath of fresh air,” Paopao said. “You just tell your team they’re going to go in. They’re all great shots, good layups, good looks. They’re going to go in.”
Paopao and Hall hit two threes to open the second half and stretch the run to 23-0 and a 35-17 lead.
South Carolina stretched the lead out to 20 late in the third quarter, and it never got any closer in the fourth.
[Win two tickets to the South Carolina-Duke WBB game]
“Just simplifying,” Staley said. “We were trying to do too much and play too fast. Clemson made us play at their pace and it was kind of frantic for us.”
Paopao finished with 13 points. Ashlyn Watkins joined her in double figures with 10 points, and also grabbed 11 rebounds for her first double-double of the season. Tessa Johnson and Joyce Edwards each scored eight points, and Hall, MiLaysia Fulwiley, and Maddy McDaniel each chipped in seven points.
Loyal McQueen scored 15 points to lead Clemson, but nine came in the fourth quarter after the outcome was decided.
By the final buzzer, South Carolina totally dominated the box score. South Carolina shot 42.9% for the game and held Clemson to 25.5%. The Gamecocks finished plus-24 rebounding, plus-six on turnovers, plus-22 in second-chance points, and plus-34 in points in the paint.
Notes:
For the first time this season, South Carolina had all 13 players available. They all played, and all but Sakima Walker scored. … Chloe Kitts had four points and eight rebounds. … South Carolina blocked nine shots. … South Carolina started 0-6 from three but finished 7-19. Clemson was 7-18 from three. … Dawn Staley’s outfit: Staley wore all black, including a Louis Vuitton jacket. … Announced attendance was 5,008. … South Carolina’s next game is Sunday at UCLA.
