COLUMBIA — The Lady Vols had a long afternoon on the hardwood Sunday as they opened February with a 69-48 Southeastern Conference loss on the road to South Carolina, the nation’s top-ranked team, at Colonial Life Arena.
No. 22 Tennessee (17-4 overall, 7-2 in the SEC) was never really in the game after falling behind 21-9 in the first quarter.
Nothing came easily for the Lady Vols against the Gamecocks (21-1, 8-0).
The one bright spot defensively for Tennessee was Tamari Key, who had eight blocked shots before fouling out with just over three minutes remaining in the contest.
Offensively, the Lady Vols were their own worst enemies on this day as they committed 21 turnovers in the contest.
Rennia Davis struggled to get open at times against South Carolina’s stifling defense. Davis scored 18 points and grabbed10 rebounds for Tennessee, which trimmed the Gamecocks’ advantage to eight points early in the third quarter.
Zia Cooke led the Gamecocks with 20 points. Destanni Henderson added 12 points and Aliyah Boston finished with 10 for South Carolina, which led 38-23 at halftime.