No. 4 South Carolina’s 71-game home winning streak came to a shocking end on Sunday as no. 7 UConn routed the Gamecocks 87-58.
The 29-point margin of victory was South Carolina’s largest deficit of the season. That was also the margin of victory (77-48) when the teams met in 2008, Dawn Staley’s first season at South Carolina.
Maybe it was a bad omen when Bree Hall sheepishly walked into the arena late. Or maybe it was when, on live television, Sir Big Spur flapped his wings in Elle Duncan’s face and tried to escape from her.
The day began with a live two-hour broadcast of College GameDay from the baseline at Colonial Life Arena. It was a celebration of all things garnet and black, but the game was a celebration of blue and white.
“I don’t think any of us expected it to be not a close game, but we were ready for whatever they threw at us,” Azzi Fudd said.
Joyce Edwards made a layup to put South Carolina up 11-9, but then UConn took over. The Huskies went on a 22-3 run spanning the first and second quarters (12-3 in the first, 10-0 to start the second).
South Carolina tried to get back into the game with a 7-0 run, and the crowd was ready to explode after MiLaysia Fulwiley made a fast break layup. But Geno Auriemma called a timeout to settle things down, and UConn finished the second quarter on a 14-2 run.
It was easily the worst quarter of the season for the Gamecocks. They scored a season-low nine points and gave up a season-high 24 points. That is not a recipe for success. The 22-point halftime deficit surpassed the 21-point halftime deficit at UCLA as the worst of the season.
“We just got punked today,” Te-Hina Paopao said. “It’s very much embarrassing. That’s not who we are. It was very much self-inflicted.”
Win tickets to the South Carolina-Arkansas women’s basketball game
South Carolina failed to adapt to what UConn wanted to do on offense. The Huskies wanted to push tempo and space the floor to get three-pointers early in the shot clock. They shot 13-28 (46.4%) for the game.
“Transition and balance. Bad shots produced points for a UConn team, they just don’t allow you to get back in it to set your defense up,” Staley said. “By the time you think about it the three is going up and through the net.”
