Dawn Staley came prepared.
She knew her South Carolina team had struggled mightily to break Kentucky’s press defense in its loss on Thursday, so when the Gamecocks traveled to play Tennessee on Sunday, she loaded up her starting lineup with four experienced guards who could handle the ball, wouldn’t get caught in traps and would have the awareness to make the necessary pass.
Sure enough, USC had just six turnovers and led wire-to-wire for an 82-67 win. The Gamecocks jumped out to a 27-11 lead early and posted their biggest road win in the series between the two programs and their second largest margin of victory ever against the Lady Vols.