No. 2 South Carolina picked up a 70-63 road win over No. 18 Tennessee on Monday night and continued making history in the process. With the victory, the Gamecocks extended their winning streak to 15 games, with the last five coming over ranked opponents -- No. 5 Texas, No. 19 Alabama, No. 13 Oklahoma, No. 5 LSU and No. 18 Tennessee.
In the past 25 years, only two other programs have beaten ranked opponents in five straight games -- UConn (2008-09) and Notre Dame (2023-2024).
Dawn Staley, the Coach of the Year in the CBS Sports midseason awards, has led South Carolina to nine wins over AP Top 25 opponents this season. The only loss came against still undefeated UCLA back on Nov. 24. Perhaps the most impressive stat is that over the last four seasons, South Carolina is 41-2 against Top 25 teams, including 11-1 on the road.
"Our team is resilient, they can win a lot of different ways," Staley said postgame. "I think the biggest pull on this stretch is mentally. Obviously it's a physical battle just to play in the SEC. But to do it against the top teams in this conference is hard. It's hard. It took a lot of, for us, togetherness, and a lot of different styles of play."
SEC Domination Continues 🐔🔥
— Naismith Awards (@NaismithTrophy) January 28, 2025
Under head Coach Dawn Staley's leadership, @GamecockWBB secured a 70-63 victory over Tennessee tonight‼️🙌
That's 5️⃣ straight wins against AP-ranked opponents, 9️⃣ ranked wins this season, and an incredible 5️⃣5️⃣ consecutive regular-season… pic.twitter.com/YkVmrtOu1J
The Gamecocks have the nation's toughest strength of schedule, according to Warren Nolan, but their depth, defense and ability to make adjustments has helped them succeed.
After a slow offensive start against Tennessee, South Carolina began pulling away late in the second quarter. The Gamecocks led by as many as 22 points a minute into the fourth, but Tennessee pushed back and got within six points with 14 seconds remaining.
The Gamecocks survived the upset scare, but the Lady Vols snapped their 14-game streak of wins by 10-plus points. With Monday's result, South Carolina extended its all-time SEC record with 55 straight conference wins.
Freshman Joyce Edwards led the way with 18 points as five South Carolina players reached double-figures while the bench outscored Tennessee's 38-22. That has been a strength for the Gamecocks, as they are the only Division I team with a bench that is outscoring their starters.
The Lady Vols also spread their offense with nine players scoring. They were led by Ruby Whitehorn and Talaysia Cooper with 12 and 11 points, respectively. Tennessee entered Monday's game as the top 3-point shooting team in the nation with 11.5 3-pointers per game. However, South Carolina's defense held the Lady Vols to just 3 of 26 (11.5%) from beyond the arc and 23 of 75 (30.7%) from the field.
The Gamecocks (20-1, 8-0 SEC) will host Auburn on Sunday and try to extend their home winning streak to 70 games. Meanwhile, Tennessee (15-5, 3-5 SEC) will take on Missouri on the road.
