It has been a very long time because the South Carolina girls’s basketball staff has misplaced a sport.
Coming into Sunday’s sport in opposition to No. 5 UCLA it had been 43 video games to be actual, a streak that went all the way in which again to the Ultimate 4 within the 2022-23 season once they misplaced to Caitlin Clark and the Iowa Hawkeyes within the nationwide semifinal.
That profitable streak got here to an emphatic finish on Sunday in a 77-62 loss to UCLA, handing Daybreak Staley’s staff its first lack of the 2024-25 season.
UCLA stormed out of the gate and carried a commanding 43-22 lead into halftime, and whereas South Carolina was in a position to shut the hole a little bit bit within the second half it was by no means in a position to actually get shut.
UCLA’s Londynn James got here off the bench to attain a game-high 15 factors within the win, whereas 5 completely different Bruins gamers reached double-digits. That features Lauren Betts who completed the sport with a double-double, scoring 11 factors and amassing a game-high 14 rebounds.
James was additionally an ideal 5-on-5 on three-point pictures, whereas the remainder of the Bruins have been simply 5-for-16 from past the arc.
UCLA is without doubt one of the finest groups within the nation has been in back-to-back Candy 16s, and this can be a huge assertion win and resume builder early on this season to associate with a giant season-opening win in opposition to then-No. 17 Louisville.
As for South Carolina, as beautiful because it could be the Gamecocks have been going to lose in some unspecified time in the future, particularly after a 43-game streak that additionally spanned the complete 2023-24 season. After dropping within the Ultimate 4 in 2022-23, the Gamecocks responded by operating the desk a 12 months in the past on their method to their third nationwide championship below Staley.
Coming into Sunday’s sport they have been 5-0 and had received three consecutive video games by at the very least 30 factors.
UCLA was their first main take a look at of the season, and it didn’t go properly.
