Clemson
Beating your rival for a 14th straight time: Pretty good.
Setting a major school record in the process: Even better.
There’s work to be done, but the No. 1 South Carolina women’s basketball team had little resistance in running past rival Clemson, 77-45, on Wednesday at Littlejohn Coliseum.
Guard Te-Hina Paopao had a team-high 13 points and USC dominated defensively as USC beat Clemson for a 14th time in a row dating back to 2010 and won a program-record 43rd consecutive game dating back to the beginning of last season.
The team’s previous record was a 42-game streak spanning the 2022 NCAA Tournament and the entire 2023 season up until a Final Four loss to Iowa.
Coach Dawn Staley’s reigning champs moved to 5-0 ahead of their trip to Los Angeles this weekend to play No. 5 UCLA, the highest ranked opponent they’ve faced yet.
Clemson first-year coach Shawn Poppie, hired away from Chattanooga to reinvigorate a Tigers program that had stagnated under former coach Amanda Butler, had his team ready early.
But Wednesday’s 32-point loss amounted to a measuring-stick game against the country’s No. 1 team .. which just so happens to also play two and a half hours down I-75 and is Clemson’s biggest rival in what’s currently a lopsided battle.
USC led 29-17 at halftime and used a 22-point third quarter to run away with the game against a Clemson team that quickly went cold from the field.
Alabama transfer guard Loyal McQueen had a team-high 15 points for Clemson, which fell to 3-1 and lost a seventh straight home game to the Gamecocks.
Slow start
When these rivals met last November in Columbia’s Colonial Life Arena, the score after a quarter was No. 1 South Carolina 31, Clemson 6.
The first quarter score on Wednesday night?
Clemson 11, No. 1 South Carolina 10.
A lot of that had to do with the Gamecocks’ poor shooting. South Carolina had 10 more shots than Clemson in the opening 10 minutes – 21 attempts to 11 – but made just five of them.
USC shooting 23.8% from the field, combined with some turnovers and extra energy from Clemson’s players in their first game against a power conference opponent this season, made for a surprising opening frame at Littlejohn Coliseum.
Clemson’s lead stretched to game-high five points (17-12) with 5:18 remaining in the second quarter. It helped, at that point, that USC was shooting a brutal 3-14 on layups.
South Carolina proceeded to end the first half on a scorching 17-0 over 4:58 of game time and went from down five points to leading by 12 (29-17) on the road.
Block party
USC entered this game with a clear size advantage.
Between forwards Ashlyn Watkins, Chloe Kitts, Sania Feagin and Joyce Edwards, the Gamecocks have four post players in their regular rotation who are 6-2 or taller.
Clemson, meanwhile, started a four-guard lineup and only had one starter, 6-2 forward Tessa Miller, listed above 6 feet.
The end result, though it took a while to develop: Clemson settling for a lot of 3-pointers and jumpers. When the Tigers did drive, they found themselves either fading from the basket – or getting swatted by South Carolina, which had six blocks.
Tessa Johnson returns
Johnson, a key sophomore reserve for the Gamecocks, hurt her ankle during South Carolina’s win over then-No. 9 NC State earlier this month and had missed the team’s past two games.
But she suited up as expected Wednesday against Clemson and provided a jolt of energy off the bench, as the reigning NCAA Final Four All-Tournament team honoree often does.
Johnson’s 3-pointer at the halftime buzzer put the cherry on top of South Carolina’s 17-0 run, and she finished with eight points in her first game in two weeks.
Next four USC WBB games
- Sun Nov. 4: at No. 5 UCLA (4 p.m. FS1)
- Thurs Nov. 28: vs. Iowa State in Fort Myers Tipoff (1:30 p.m., FOX)
- Sat Nov. 30: vs. Purdie in Fort Myers Tipoff (11 a.m., Women’s Sports Network)
- Thurs Dec. 5: vs. Duke in SEC-ACC Challenge (9 p.m., ESPN)
