South Carolina women’s basketball smothers no. 5 LSU for a 66-56 win

No. 2 South Carolina shut down the nation’s third-ranked scoring offense for a 66-56 win over no. 5 LSU.

The Gamecocks broke open a tight rock fight with an electric 26-second outburst in the third quarter. 

Te-Hina Paopao drove for a baseline layup. Then Sania Feagin stole a pass on the other end and found Raven Johnson for a layup. Johnson then stole the inbounds pass for another layup. 

Combined with two Chloe Kitts field goals, the 8-0 run gave South Carolina a nine-point lead that LSU could never overcome. 

The Tigers pulled within five points once, but then Joyce Edwards scored four points during a 6-1 run that gave South Carolina a 10-point lead going into the fourth quarter. 

South Carolina led by as much as 13 in the fourth quarter, and LSU never got closer than seven points.

Both teams started the game hot, shooting 50% or better in the first quarter. LSU made six of its first eight shot attempts, including a pair of threes, and had 14 points less than five minutes into the game.

The Tigers used that early offense to run out to a 22-15 lead late in the first quarter. But then both offenses cooled and the Gamecock defense took over. 

LSU didn’t score for nearly four minutes. During that time, the seven-point lead became a one-point deficit. The teams traded the lead over the next couple of minutes and the LSU’s scoring punch disappeared.

South Carolina held LSU without a field goal over the final 5:04 of the second quarter. LSU mustered just eight points in the quarter, the first time the Tigers had been held to single digits in a quarter all season. South Carolina wasn’t much better, shooting just 3-17, but the Gamecocks managed to take a 33-30 halftime lead.

This is a developing story. Stay with GamecockCentral for continuing coverage…

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