Less than a month after an embarrassing road loss at South Carolina in its inaugural SEC season, No. 4 Texas made history on Sunday, delivering No. 2 South Carolina its first regular-season SEC defeat in more than two years and ending the Gamecocks’ 57-game winning streak (a league record) in conference play. The defending national champions never led the contest, winning 66-62 behind Madison Booker’s 20 points. It was Texas’ seventh ranked win of the season.
Texas’ win shifts the picture at the top of women’s college hoops and in the SEC. Ahead of this game, the Longhorns had yet to secure a marquee win on the year, losing at South Carolina in January and at Notre Dame (now ranked No. 3) in December. Now, both the Gamecocks and Longhorns share the top line in the SEC at 10-1. With a win over No. 19 Tennessee, No. 6 LSU could force a three-way tie atop the conference with five games to go in SEC play. All three teams are now in contention for No. 1 seeds in the NCAA Tournament depending on how they finish the conference season.
For Texas, the game wasn’t just about shuffling the top of the conference and the NCAA Tournament picture; it was also a redemptive opportunity. In January, despite Texas’ vaunted defense forcing 22 turnovers and notching 10 steals, its offense couldn’t ignite as the Longhorns shot 28 percent from the field and Booker had one of the roughest outings of her career.
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Booker flipped the script Sunday, showing how eager she was to put behind her the 3-of-19 shooting performance in the first meeting of these two (new) SEC foes. She led the way with 20 points, albeit on 7-for-22 shooting, plus a game-high 11 rebounds. The degree of difficulty on her attempts was astronomical, but Booker made enough contested jumpers to help Texas take an early lead that the Longhorns would not relinquish.
Kyla Oldacre, one of the few bright spots for Texas in the first matchup (11 points, 16 rebounds), was a catalyst down the stretch in this one. The 6-foot-6 forward played just four minutes in the first half because of foul trouble, but played 17 in the second half and scored eight of the Longhorns’ 17 fourth-quarter points, including the decisive layup that put Texas up 64-59 with 2:21 to play. She finished with 13 points and six rebounds.
With Oldacre on the bench in the first half, Texas established Taylor Jones early, running the offense through its 6-foot-4 center to the tune of 11 first-half points. After the Gamecocks adjusted to start the third quarter, the Longhorns went with Oldacre the rest of the way, utilizing her screening to spring Booker open and her size to finish over the top of South Carolina’s defenders.
The Gamecocks entered the season a little undersized in the post after 6-foot-7 Kamilla Cardoso, the 2024 Final Four most outstanding player, turned pro. Their frontcourt thinned out even further with Ashlyn Watkins’ season-ending ACL tear, and Texas was able to take advantage inside. South Carolina’s opponents entered Sunday’s contest averaging 25.7 paint points per game, and the Longhorns blew past that total, scoring 40 of their 66 in the lane.
The Longhorns led by as many as 10 points in the first half, but a great third quarter from South Carolina — the Gamecocks outscored the Longhorns, 22-13, as several SC starters who had been forced to sit in the first half due to foul trouble were able to get heavy minutes — forced a decisive fourth-quarter that began with a 49-49 score. Texas dialed up the defense in the final period, challenging every shot at the rim, punctuated by Jordan Lee’s contest of Tessa Johnson’s potential game-tying layup in the final minute. South Carolina attempted to go small, playing without forwards Chloe Kitts and Joyce Edwards for the entirety of the final period, but it backfired as the offense couldn’t spread the floor (0-for-4 on 3-pointers) and the Gamecocks were outrebounded 11-8.
Both coaches were visibly frustrated by the officiating, especially early on. Referees called 16 fouls in the first quarter, putting multiple players in early foul-trouble watch — South Carolina’s Te-Hina Paopao, Sania Feagin and Maryam Dauda as well as Texas’ Justice Carlton all picked up two fouls apiece in the first 10 minutes.
Feagin, the Gamecocks’ best rim protector, picked up her third foul midway through the third quarter with SC trailing by six and sat until the start of the fourth. The senior center wasn’t as impactful defensively due to her foul trouble, and the Gamecocks were outscored by 10 in her 22 minutes of action.
Despite the bevy of foul calls (38 in the game), neither team was able to take advantage of its opportunities at the charity stripe. South Carolina shot 65 percent from the free-throw line (15-for-23) while Texas wasn’t much better at 67 percent (14-for-21).
The race to the SEC title will now tighten at the top. South Carolina faces two more ranked conference opponents — No. 24 Vanderbilt and No. 11 Kentucky — and the upcoming showdown between LSU and Texas takes on extra importance. The Longhorns face the Tigers and Wildcats in consecutive games before closing out the conference slate against three teams that are .400 or worse in SEC play.
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(Photo: AP / Eric Gay)
