Dawn Staley didn’t like the long stretch in between games for South Carolina women’s basketball. It gave her players time to lose some of their sharpness, she said.
On Monday night at Colonial Life Arena, Gamecock fans saw some of that sloppiness early, but USC recovered with more than enough time to take an 80-69 win over SEC cellar-dweller Vanderbilt.
From the get-go, it appeared that USC (14-5, 6-1 SEC) would cruise to another easy home SEC win like it did over Florida two weeks ago. Staley’s team made its first five field goal attempts and forced five Vandy turnovers in the first quarter, racing to an early 15-5 lead.