South Carolina basketball moved to 10-0 on Saturday with a big win over in-state Presbyterian. The Gamecocks got up early and were able to cruise to a 70-point victory at Colonial Life Arena despite Raven Johnson not playing in order to rest her body from some soreness she experienced this week.
An incredible 1st quarter on offense saw the Gamecocks shoot over 70% and score 36 points. The defense was decent early but really turned up after the 1st quarter ended.
South Carolina allowed just 4 made field goals over the final 3 quarters of the game, and the final two were both ugly, banked 3-pointers that had no business going in the basket. For the game, USC swatted 17 shots and stole the ball 14 times. They limited the Blue Hose to under 16% shooting from the field, and outside of their best player (Tilda Sjokvist), PC shot under 10%.
7 Gamecocks scored in double-digits on Saturday (Chloe Kitts, MiLaysia Fulwiley, Bree Hall, Kamilla Cardoso, Sakima Walker, and Ashlyn Watkins), and 5 had at least 5 rebounds (Kitts, Watkins, Cardoso, Fulwiley, and Sahnya Jah). Kitts and Watkins had double-doubles, and 3 Gamecocks had at least 3 blocks (Fulwiley, Cardoso, and Watkins).
The long-standing turnover issue for the garnet and black was not a problem on Saturday afternoon as the Gamecocks gave the ball away just 8 times over the entire game. They still struggled to make their free throws at an impressive rate (under 62%), but they limited PC to just 8 attempts from the line.
Had the Gamecocks made just one more of their free throws, South Carolina basketball would have reached the 100-point threshold for the 6th time in the 2023-2024 season.