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And then there was one. The No. 1 South Carolina women's basketball team is the last undefeated college basketball squad in the nation -- men's or women's -- after Sunday's 88-64 victory over the No. 3 LSU Tigers in front of a sold out crowd of 18,000 at Colonial Life Arena.

"They are walking in their truth," South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley said during her postgame interview. "This is what they do, they build habits. They play in the biggest stage of college women's basketball. We don't want to lose, and we certainly don't want to lose in our building.

"We don't lose very often here. We wanted to make sure that we took care of it. Our players are driven, they are competitive. They want to win at all costs and they want to do if for each other."

Here are five takeaways from the game between two of the sport's top powerhouses:

1. South Carolina fears no one

Being the No. 1 team for 33 consecutive weeks in a row -- likely 34 on Monday -- certainly puts a target on the backs of Staley's squad. However, they're a group of fighters and showed their strength as soon as the game tipped off. Zia Cooke scored the first basket of the game just three seconds in on the fast break.

Less than four minutes into the game, LSU trailed 13-2, their largest deficit of the season. They fought back and got within single digits, but the Gamecocks never lost control. 

The Gamecocks have now registered 31 straight wins, including 19 consecutive victories against ranked opponents -- the second-longest streak in SEC history behind Tennessee's 22 in 1997-98.

2. Kamilla Cardoso can't be overlooked

While Aliyah Boston is the reigning national player of the year and deserves every bit of praise she has gotten, she is also surrounded by a solid group of players. There are many contributors who can step up on any given day, and Sunday it was Kamilla Cardoso's turn to take the spotlight.

The 6-foot-7 center led the winning offense with 18 points and went 7-of-9 from the field while completing a double-double with 13 rebounds. She also picked up three blocks along the way.

This was her 12th game in double figures this season as well as her sixth double-double. Cardoso is making a big jump from last season, when she only averaged 5.4 points through 32 games. Last year she tallied 164 rebounds, and she has already surpassed that total this season.

3. South Carolina's offense is improving

Only Cooke and Boston came in averaging double figures for South Carolina, but it's clear this roster is deeper than it looks on paper. On Sunday, five Gamecocks registered double figures and the team as a whole shot 57% from the field, which is 10% better than their average this season. 

That was not a small accomplishment, as LSU has been holding opponents to 54.3 points per game this season, which gives the Tigers the 11th best scoring defense in the nation.

Last season, South Carolina was still a very dominant team, but their offense was inconsistent. They had 11 games in which they scored 65 points or less. This season they've only had three games so far with 65 points or less. South Carolina averaged 70.9 points per game through the 2021-22 campaign. The Gamecocks are currently ranked No. 9 in the country with an average of 82.2 points per game.

4. Gamecocks continue to be tough on defense

LSU has the third best scoring offense in the nation, but South Carolina's brand is defense -- and they certainly lived up to it. 

The main question coming into the game was how the Gamecocks would defend Angel Reese, who had registered double-doubles in all of her previous games this season, which was an LSU record and the second-longest streak in SEC history. Reese had been averaging 23.5 points and 15.8 rebounds per game, and has been a solid candidate for national player of the year. 

On Sunday, Reese struggled to register 16 points by only going 5-of-15 from the field. Six of her points came from the free-throw line. Her double-double streak was broken as she only collected four rebounds. Alexis Morris led all scorers with 23 points, making 11 of her 29 shot attempts. No other Tigers player reached double figures.

5. The loss doesn't take away from LSU's season

The final score on Sunday shows the Gamecocks were the dominant team. However, being one of the last two unbeaten college basketball teams in the nation is still a big accomplishment for LSU.

Kim Mulkey's Tigers are in the middle of the best season in program history. LSU was ranked No. 16 in the AP Top 25 preseason poll, but it was unclear how good they would actually be with Morris being the only returning starter. LSU hadn't even been in the top five of the AP poll since 2009. On Jan. 9, the Tigers took the No. 3 spot, their best ranking since Feb. 27, 2006. 

Staley was last season's Coach of the Year, but Mulkey -- who joined LSU in 2021 -- can't be overlooked because she is still one of the top coaches in women's basketball. Mulkey won three NCAA championships with Baylor and is hungry for a trophy with the Tigers. She is already building something at LSU.