Joyce Edwards scored 14 points and No. 2 South Carolina put the clamps on No. 5 LSU, handing the visiting Tigers their first loss of the season with a 66-56 result Friday in Columbia, S.C.
South Carolina (19-1, 7-0 Southeastern Conference) held LSU (20-1, 5-1) to its fewest points of the season. The Tigers shot just 29.9 percent from the floor (23 of 77) but grabbed 28 offensive rebounds and scored 22 second-chance points.
LSU’s Aneesah Morrow posted game highs of 15 points and 16 rebounds. Flau’jae Johnson and Mikaylah Williams each added 13 points.
Sania Feagin had 12 points and seven rebounds for the Gamecocks, who trailed by as many as seven points in the first quarter before pulling away in the middle two periods. South Carolina held a 33-30 lead at halftime and grew the advantage to 51-41 after the third quarter, as Edwards converted a tip-in for her team’s first double-digit lead.
South Carolina, the defending national champion, was outrebounded 51-39 but made 18 free throws to LSU’s seven.
The game was moved back from Thursday to Friday due to the winter storm moving through the South. It was the teams’ only meeting of the regular season and their first since last year’s SEC championship game, a 79-72 Gamecocks victory marred by a fight and several ejections.
–Field Level Media
