30 straight wins: No. 1 Gamecocks top Auburn to set up undefeated showdown with LSU
Twenty-four games later, and the Gamecocks remain unbeaten.
No. 1 South Carolina (24-0, 11-0 SEC) defeated Auburn 83-48 on the road Thursday to maintain its perfect record.
The Gamecocks wasted no time getting to their offense. The team attacked the paint early on, earning 10 of its 19 first-quarter points in the paint.
USC hindered Auburn’s offense all night. The Tigers struggled from the floor and ended with 11 turnovers. Open looks were a rarity against the Gamecocks.
Balanced scoring was key, as 11 different players scored for South Carolina.
“We have a really good bench,” head coach Dawn Staley said. “They are locked in. We’ve developed that bench over the season ... the maturity level, the growth, the communication. They’re so competitive, there’s no letdown.”
South Carolina heads home for its undefeated showdown Sunday against LSU.
VETERANS GUIDE THE GAMECOCKS
Senior guard Zia Cooke led the team with 15 points, bouncing back from three straight games in which she was held under 10 points. She did so by shooting an efficient 5-of-8 from the floor.
Victaria Saxton shined early on, scoring a team-high eight points in the first half and finishing with 10 along with six rebounds.
Boston didn’t record a double-double, but did have 10 points and eight rebounds. Kierra Fletcher, who played just four minutes against UConn, looked sharp, knocking down several jumpshots and ending with nine points and five assists.
“It’s cool to see the dynamics of what our team is comprised of,” Staley said.
30 IN A ROW
South Carolina has won 30 consecutive games for the first time in program history.
Those wins span from last season’s six-game postseason run to a national championship and builds on this year’s 24-0 start.
The all-time longest winning streak by an SEC team is 46 games by Tennessee from 1996-1998. Mississippi State is the other team to surpass the 30-game mark with 32 consecutive wins in the 2017-18 season.
South Carolina’s lost just eight games since the 2019-20 season, due in large part to its 2019 recruiting class. That class featured three of its current starters — Boston, Cooke and Brea Beal. Laeticia Amihere and Olivia Thompson were also among that group.
LSU UP NEXT
South Carolina returns to Colonial Life Arena with an undefeated record to face LSU — the only other unbeaten squad in the country.
LSU did not have a midweek game this week and comes into Sunday with a bit more rest than the Gamecocks will get.
The winner of Sunday’s game will hold the top spot in the SEC standings. South Carolina has won the regular season six times since 2014.
Sunday’s game has been announced as a sellout, the first for South Carolina this season. USC has sold out at least one game every year since 2016.
“We have a team that just takes care of what’s in front of them,” Staley said. “Don’t look ahead, we stay current. It’s because we’ve got a very experienced and season team. They’ve always been that way.”
NEXT FOUR SOUTH CAROLINA WBB GAMES
Sunday: home vs. LSU, 2 p.m. (ESPN)
Feb. 16: home vs. Florida, 7 p.m. (SEC Network Plus)
Feb. 19: at Ole Miss, 4 p.m. (SEC Network)
Feb. 23: at Tennessee, 7 p.m. (ESPN)
This story was originally published February 9, 2023 at 9:44 PM.
