South Carolina survives against LSU, remains undefeated

Thursday night’s game between No. 1 South Carolina and No. 9 LSU got plenty of hype. College GameDay sat in front of a packed student section at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center ahead of tip-off as two top-10 teams squared off in a pivotal SEC matchup.

It certainly lived up to the billing.

The atmosphere was electric as the Tigers took an early lead over the Gamecocks. But South Carolina, as has been the case under Dawn Staley, battled back and went punch-for-punch with LSU to stay within striking distance throughout the matchup.

A late surge helped propel the Gamecocks to the massive 76-70 victory, remaining undefeated while handing LSU its third loss of the season.

South Carolina used a balance attack on offense, led by an impressive shooting night from Chloe Kitts. She went 6-for-9 from the floor for 14 points, while Raven Johnson added 13. Leading scorer Kamilla Cardoso was held to just 5-of-11 shooting and 11 points as the LSU defense keyed in on her throughout the contest.

South Carolina used a strong fourth quarter to come all the way back, stun LSU

The Tigers entered the fourth quarter with a four-point lead after stopping the Gamecocks on the final possession of the third period. South Carolina mounted a late rally, though, to take a 63-61 lead with six minutes left to play. That charge came after Angel Reese picked up her fourth foul of the game with just over eight minutes remaining, which meant Kim Mulkey had to send her to the bench.

It opened the door for the Gamecocks to find a groove and get back out in front.

The game went back-and-forth from there with the two teams trading leads down the stretch, with Reese coming back in the game just after South Carolina took the lead again. However, she fouled out with 4:02 left, meaning LSU had to go forward without her as the Gamecocks tied the game at 67-67. They then re-took the lead, but Hailey Van Lith hit a huge three with 1:37 to play to bring it back to a 70-70 tie.

LSU then called its final timeout, and Bree Hall hit the three-pointer out of the huddle — her second big three of the night — to break the tie and make it a 73-70 South Carolina advantage. Raven Johnson then sealed it with time ticking away, draining a layup as the Gamecocks walked away with the victory.

Aneesah Morrow led the charge for LSU with 16 points and 10 rebounds. Reese wasn’t far behind her, adding 15 points and eight rebounds before committing her fifth foul of the night.