In the women’s college basketball game of the year, No. 3 LSU just didn’t quite have enough juice against No. 1 South Carolina.
In a battle between the lone remaining unbeaten teams in the nation, the defending national champion Gamecocks emerged victorious with an 88-64 win at home in Columbia. With the loss, the Tigers’ program record 23-0 start adds a blemish in the loss column.
LSU (23-1, 11-1 SEC) had about the worst start possible against the nation’s top team. South Carolina (25-0, 12-0 SEC) jumped out to an 18-2 start, and the home crowd at Colonial Life Arena was amped up.
The second quarter went much better for the Tigers, though. After starting the game shooting 6 of 17, they went 7 of 13 in the second frame with [autotag]Alexis Morris[/autotag] scoring a team-high seven first-half points, and LSU only trailed 42-32 at the break.
The Tigers came out in the second half with momentum, cutting the deficit to five with an 8-3 run. But the game never got any closer than that as the Gamecocks led by 16 at the end of the third and expanded on that lead in the fourth.
[autotag]Angel Reese[/autotag] scored 16 for LSU while Morris scored a game-high 23, but South Carolina shot 57.4% for the game and went 10 of 13 in the final quarter. Five Gamecocks players scored in double figures, including an 18-point, 13-rebound double-double from leading scorer Kamilla Cardoso.
South Carolina was dominant in the paint, scoring 46 points while winning the rebounding battle 43-25. The Gamecocks went to the line 28 times, where they got 16 points.
It’s a disappointing loss for the Tigers, but they will likely be favored in all of their remaining games and could be in line for a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. A rematch with South Carolina could also potentially be in the cards in the SEC Tournament.
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