COLUMBIA — The NCAA tournament is all about No. 16 seeds upsetting the top teams but on Friday, South Carolina women’s basketball didn’t let that happen.
The No. 1-seeded and defending national champion Gamecocks (31-3) beat No. 16 seed Tennessee Tech 108-48 on Friday in Colonial Life Arena, scoring the most points in a NCAA tournament game in program history. The previous record of 100 was set by the Gamecocks against Quinnipiac in 2017.
South Carolina ended a 17-game long win streak for the Golden Eagles (26-6), making it miserable for them on every level. By halftime, coach Dawn Staley’s team outrebounded them 25-8, had 29 bench points to their nine and shot 64% from the field.
South Carolina’s Joyce Edwards had 20 points by the fourth quarter and finished with a team-high 22 points on 9-of-12 from the field.
The Gamecocks hit a season-high 12 of 19 3-pointers (66.7%), beating the previous high of 11 from Nov. 14 against Coppin State. Tessa Johnson and Te-Hina Paopao each had three.
South Carolina is now 9-0 in March Madness games against No. 16 seeds and in the win Friday, every player scored.
Advancing to the second round, the Gamecocks face No. 9 seed Indiana (20-12) on Sunday (time TBD).
South Carolina vs Tennessee Tech preview
South Carolina: The Gamecocks took an early season loss to UCLA in November then proceeded to win every game until Feb. 9. After suffering a brutal 29-point loss to UConn a week later, South Carolina went on to finish the regular season undefeated and beat Texas for the SEC tournament championship. Despite losing star rebounder Ashlyn Watkins to an ACL tear on Jan. 5, the Gamecocks finished with the most Quad 1 wins in the country and beat five straight top 25 teams in January.
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