Coming off a loss in the SEC Tournament championship game, top-seeded South Carolina (30-2) responded about as well as a team possibly can, blowing out 16-seed Howard (21-10) by the score of 79-21. Howard’s 21 points was also the fewest points scored ever in a women’s NCAA Tournament game.
Although the result is fantastic, it wasn’t exactly unexpected either with the Gamecocks entering this game as 45.5-points favorites, according to DraftKings Sportsbook, which is one of the largest spreads I’ve ever seen regardless of the sport.
Howard’s game plan was obvious: clog the paint and force South Carolina to score from the outside.