South Carolina WBB loses first game of season in dramatic fashion to No. 4 Texas
South Carolina lost its first game of the 2025-26 season on Thursday night.
The No. 2 Gamecocks couldn’t get the job done in the Players Era Championship title game out in Las Vegas, losing 66-64 to No. 4 Texas.
A go-ahead bucket from Texas’ veteran guard Rori Harmon won the game for the Longhorns with 0.7 seconds left on the clock. Harmon’s game-winning shot was one of just three field goals she made .
South Carolina drops to 7-1 as a result and the Longhorns move to 7-0 on the year . The Gamecocks had four players finish in double-digits in the scoring column. Joyce Edwards and Ta’Niya Latson led the way with 16 points each. Tessa Johnson recorded 13 points and Madina Okot finished with a double-double.
Hot then cold to start for both teams
The game started off relatively high-scoring but quickly tapered off in the second quarter.
Texas shot 58.8% from the field as a team in the first quarter to get out to a 23-19 lead .
South Carolina struggled to hit shots for a majority of the first half.
The Gamecocks shot 37.5% as a team in the first quarter then that mark dipped even lower in the second quarter to 31.3%. Lucky for South Carolina, Texas’ offense stalled out in the second period.
Texas shot 12.5% from the floor in the second quarter. The Longhorns led by as many as eight points early in the second quarter, but South Carolina was able to cut the deficit to four going into the break.
Both South Carolina and Texas scored just 10 points in the second quarter. Texas led 33-29 at halftime.
Third quarter run swings momentum to South Carolina
The Gamecocks finally found some rhythm on offense in the third quarter. South Carolina shot 55.6% and went on a 13-1 run at one point in the period.
A lot of that momentum swing on offense can be credited to South Carolina finally finding success in the paint. The Gamecocks had just 16 paint points in the first half, only two more than Texas’ 14 points inside . In the third quarter the Gamecocks recorded 18 paint points compared to Texas’ eight.
Edwards led South Carolina with nine points in the third quarter. Okot scored six points and brought in four rebounds in the period. The Gamecocks led by as many as eight points in the third and finished the quarter with a 50-46 lead .
Down to the wire in the fourth quarter
Texas worked its way back into the lead in the fourth quarter. The Longhorns slowly built up a lead and for a second it looked like Texas was set to get the upset win.
A layup from Okot and a 3-pointer from Tessa Johnson got South Carolina within one point with just under three minutes in the game. Okot fouled out with 1:52 left in the game and finished with 12 points and 11 rebounds.
Raven Johnson cut Texas’ lead to 64-62 with 44 seconds left on the clock after making a free throw. Free throws from Latson tied the game at 64-64 with 15 seconds left.
A jump shot from Harmon on Texas’ next possession gave the Longhorns a 66-64 lead with less than a second on the clock. South Carolina’s attempt at a buzzer beater was unsuccessful, delivering the win for the Longhorns.
South Carolina WBB’s next four games
- Thursday, Dec. 4: at Louisville, 7 p.m. (ESPN)
- Sunday, Dec. 7: vs NC Central, 12 p.m. (SEC Network Plus)
- Sunday, Dec. 14: vs Penn State, 3:30 p.m. (ESPN)
- Thursday, Dec. 18 at South Florida, TBA (ESPN+)
This story was originally published November 27, 2025 at 10:07 PM.
