South Carolina makes NCAA Tournament history with dominant victory over Oklahoma

The No. 1 South Carolina Gamecocks wasted no time proving they have learned from their loss to Texas in the SEC Tournament final in the Sweet 16. The No. 4 Oklahoma Sooners entered this matchup with the confidence of having defeated the Gamecocks earlier in the regular season. 

But Dawn Staley’s team showed this is a much different team than it was on Jan. 22, when the Sooners beat the Gamecocks 94-82 in overtime. The Gamecocks' offense powered South Carolina to a 94-68 victory over the Sooners, sending this team back to the Elite Eight.

South Carolina has had some hot starts that have propelled them through the early rounds of this tournament. Through the Gamecocks’ first three games, South Carolina has started on combined runs of 43-0 to get early leads the offense doesn’t relinquish throughout. 

On Saturday, South Carolina got out to a 10-0  run once again, and led 23-13 after the first quarter, then went to the locker room leading 47-28 at halftime and although Oklahoma tried to make it a close game throughout, the Gamecocks prevailed to win by 26. 

It was the closest margin of victory South Carolina has had in this tournament so far. Impressively, the win marks the first time in school history the Gamecocks have had three straight games scoring 90 points or more in the NCAA Tournament. 

Against the Sooners, the Gamecocks were once again led by Raven Johnson and Ta’Niya Latson, who combined for 46 points. Johnson had a career-high points in an NCAA Tournament game. Tessa Johnson added another 14. South Carolina shot 64% in the first half behind the arc, finishing at 71% on the day.  

To open the second half, the Sooners hit back-to-back threes but with 5:07 left in the third, Raven Johnson scored to give the Gamecocks a 62-38 lead, one of their largest leads of the day. The Gamecocks never really let their foot off the gas offensively, and the Sooners shot just 39% from the floor. Oklahoma's scoring effort was led by Aaliyah Chavez, who finished with 21 points, with center Raegan Beers adding 14.  

South Carolina is now 32-1 this year when leading at half—the only loss was the regular-season one to Oklahoma, which was avenged with Saturday's victory.  

Now, the Gamecocks are going back to the Elite Eight for the sixth straight season for Staley and company. There, South Carolina will face the winner of Saturday night’s No. 3 TCU vs. No. 10 Virginia matchup. 

South Carolina has a long way to go if it has national championship aspirations. But the offense scoring like it has early should give the Gamecocks plenty of confidence as it continues through this tournament.