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USC women blown out by top-seeded South Carolina in NCAA Tournament

March 24, 2026

COLUMBIA, S.C. — Jazzy Davidson wiped tears from her eyes during the press conference following a lopsided loss to South Carolina. Londynn Jones, seated next to her, stared at the back of the room as her own eyes welled up.

The Gamecocks had ousted the USC women’s basketball team from the second round of the NCAA Tournament on Monday night, handing them a 101-61 defeat that ends an up-and-down season for the Trojans and sends seniors Kara Dunn and Jones out with an emotional loss.

“Oh, my God, they mean everything to me,” Davidson, a freshman, said. “They have gotten me through some really hard times this season, and I’m just so grateful to have been teammates with them, even if it was only for one season.”

Jones scored a team-high 20 points for USC (18-14) and Davidson added 16 as the Gamecocks (33-3) won their final appearance of the season at Colonial Life Arena and advanced to play fourth-seeded Oklahoma, one of two teams to defeat South Carolina this season, in a Sacramento 4 Regional game next weekend.

USC committed a season-high 26 turnovers and was outrebounded 43-27 as South Carolina became the first team to score 100 points against the Trojans since 2001, when they lost to Tennessee, 106-66.

“You can lose, and you can not necessarily be as good of a team, but I thought we were conceding some things,” USC head coach Lindsay Gottlieb said.

“You don’t need to throw the ball to the other team. We had some careless things that I wasn’t pleased with, and just wanted to see a different competitive level in the second half. Obviously, I thought we were trying to put up a fight, but we weren’t good enough, and that’s a good lesson for us as well.”

Joyce Edwards scored a game-high 23 points to go with 10 rebounds for South Carolina, while Madina Okot added her 22nd double-double of the season (15 points, 15 rebounds). Senior guard Raven Johnson scored her 1,000th career point when she grabbed a steal for a breakaway layup with two minutes left in the first half and finished with seven points.

Freshman Agot Makeeer, among six South Carolina players in double figures, had 15 points and four of her team’s 17 steals. She and Johnson shared prime defensive responsibility on Davidson, who shot 5 for 15 from the field.

Monday night was a rematch between the Gamecocks and the Trojans, who had battled it out in a nonconference game in November to decide who could be called “The Real SC.” South Carolina won that game, 69-52, in Los Angeles.

With Monday’s win, South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley improved to 4-0 all-time against USC. The two teams are already scheduled to meet again next season on Nov. 15 in Greenville, South Carolina.

“We want to play the game (against USC) because they’re a top-10 program in the country and they got some pretty talented players,” Staley said. “They will be super talented next year, so I’m sure – actually, I’m not even going to go there right now. I’m just going to enjoy actually advancing to the Sweet 16 because who they’re bringing to the table next year should be a truly quality opponent in November.”

The Trojans’ fleet-footed perimeter defense limited the Gamecocks to just one 3-pointer in the first quarter, but – without a true post player to shoulder the load – they struggled to minimize the damage in the paint and on the boards.

South Carolina opened with a 13-0 run, made nearly half of its shots from the field and outrebounded USC 25-10 in the first half and led 51-21 at halftime while cruising to its 18th straight NCAA win at home.

Offensive attacks came in waves as South Carolina got 34 points from its reserves. Throughout this postseason, the bench has been averaging 19 points and 10.8 rebounds per game.

Kennedy Smith took the lead for USC in the first half, shouting directions to her teammates in an arena that was blanketed in garnet and black. She guarded Johnson while dictating the pace on offense, quickly releasing shots from all three levels.

“Kennedy’s very consistent in what she does,” Jones said. “We know what we’re going to get from her, and I think that that helps.”

South Carolina, which won the national championship in 2024, led by at least 16 points for the entire second quarter and closed out the frame on an 18-3 scoring run for the 30-point lead at the intermission.

Davidson recorded her third foul with three minutes left in the half, but came out at the start of the third quarter and played for the remainder of the game. She scored 10 of her points in the second half and shot 2 for 3 from long range.

“I need to get better,” Davidson said. “That’s the bottom line. It’s hard to lose in general, but losing this way really sucks, and I think I could have done a lot better for my team today.”

Jones hit three 3-pointers and a free throw to rattle off 10 points in the final 3:30 of the game to keep USC moving. It was her fourth time playing in the NCAA Tournament but her first appearance with the Trojans after transferring from UCLA after last season.

“I decided to come here for my last year, and there was no doubt that that’s what I wanted to do,” Jones said. “Obviously, me and Coach Lindsay had a relationship. But just the staff, the relationships that I’ve built with the girls, how connected we are off the court, it’s so much more than just basketball. It’s meant so much.”

Staley began pulling starters from the game with 1:18 left in the third quarter as the Gamecocks continued to pour on the points. They outscored USC 50-40 in the second half.

Staley believes her team has found its resolve since losing the SEC Tournament championship game to Texas two weeks ago.

“I think we’re starting to connect,” Staley said. “I do think the excitement of playing in the NCAA Tournament has lifted them to play connected basketball. They know the stakes are high, it takes a win to advance and it’s bringing out the ultra competitiveness in them.”

South Carolina ran past USC, which had advanced to the Elite Eight the past two seasons despite superstar JuJu Watkins tearing her ACL early in last year’s NCAA Tournament. This time, all Watkins could do was watch from her seat on the bench as her teammates had no answers for the Gamecocks.

The Trojans lost for fifth time in their past six games with this being the largest margin of defeat in their NCAA Tournament history, surpassing an 85-51 loss to Duke in the second round in 2006.

USC was making its fourth straight NCAA Tournament appearance and reached the second round for the 13th time. The Trojans beat eighth-seeded Clemson, 71-67 in overtime, on Saturday.

Orange County Register

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USC women blown out by top-seeded South Carolina in NCAA Tournament

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