KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — For the South Carolina women’s basketball team, trips to Tennessee once meant a pummeling. They would venture over the Appalachians, and return home humbled by 36, 43, or 54 points. At the height of the Lady Vols’ program under Pat Summitt, winning here for the Gamecocks seemed about as realistic as winning on the moon.
But Monday night, something very different happened, and in the same place where the Gamecocks once lost 20 straight games. Third-ranked USC didn’t just beat No. 24 Tennessee 62-56 for just its second victory ever in Knoxville, it also clinched at least a share of a third straight SEC title, and on the home floor of the program which for decades set the standard in the conference.