Vanderbilt’s undefeated season ends with a 103-74 drubbing by South Carolina

Vanderbilt suffered its first loss of the season against South Carolina on Sunday afternoon, with the No. 2 Gamecocks dominating the No. 5 Commodores, 103-74.

Vanderbilt entered the game 20–0, which was the best start in program history, and the Commodores were one of the last two undefeated teams remaining in women’s college basketball. The only one still standing is No. 1 UConn, the defending national champion.

“We won 20 games,” Vanderbilt coach Shea Ralph told reporters after the game. “We’re 20-1. The world isn’t over. We’ll be fine.”

Five Gamecocks scored in double figures, led by Ta’Niya Latson and Tessa Johnson, who combined for 41 points. Mikayla Blakes led Vanderbilt’s effort with 23 points, which marked her 16th 20-plus point game of the season.

South Carolina was recovering from a 94-82 overtime loss to Oklahoma earlier in the week. Dawn Staley’s program hasn’t lost consecutive games since the 2018-19 season and Sunday’s result helped the Gamecocks continue that streak.

They moved the ball well with 25 assists, more than double the 12 they had in the loss to the Sooners. The Gamecocks were able to rush Vanderbilt, which helped them score 24 points off 16 turnovers in the first half. This put the Commodores in an unusual situation as they entered the game averaging 12.5 turnovers per game. Vanderbilt finished the game with 20 turnovers which led to 32 South Carolina points.

South Carolina held a 55-44 lead at the break, with 28 of those points coming from the paint. By the end of the night, the Gamecocks had won the battle in the paint 56-24. However, their shooting was also working elsewhere as they had 10 3-pointers, more than their average of 5.9 per game this season.

Ralph said she was surprised by her team’s poor defensive performance, which she called an “absolute disaster.” Mental toughness and staying locked in even when they are down is also something the coach wants to see from his team as they move forward.

“At some points in the game we felt like we were giving up,” she said. “This can’t be who we are.”

This was the Gamecocks’ 5th win over a ranked opponent this season, while Vanderbilt has two. Both teams still have plenty of time to add quality wins before March, as the SEC is impressively deep with nine teams ranked in the AP Top 25 this week.

Next, South Carolina hits the road to face Auburn on Thursday. That same evening, Vanderbilt will have a chance to bounce back with a road matchup against No. 18 Ole Miss.