Joyce Edwards scores 18 to lead No. 2 South Carolina past No. 18 Tennessee 70-63
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Joyce Edwards scored 18 points to lead No. 2 South Carolina to its 15th straight victory, 70-63 over No. 18 Tennessee on Monday night.
MiLaysia Fulwiley added 11 points and Te-Hina Paopao, Chloe Kitts and Raven Johnson all had 10 for the Gamecocks (20-1, 8-0 Southeastern Conference).
The Lady Vols (15-5, 3-5) had coach Kim Caldwell back on the sideline after she missed last week’s loss at Texas following the birth of her son. Tennessee, which has lost three in a row, was led by Ruby Whitehorn with 12 points. Talaysia Cooper added 11.
The Gamecocks put together an 18-1 run to take a 35-26 halftime lead.
Takeaways
South Carolina: A couple weeks ago, Ashlyn Watkins went down with a season-ending knee injury. Watkins had been the Gamecocks’ top post defender, but Edwards has filled that void, becoming a dominant presence down low.
Tennessee: With Caldwell back, the Lady Vols will try to recover from a stretch of five losses in seven games, four of them to teams ranked in the top 10. They face two more highly ranked foes in their next three games in No. 6 UConn and No. 7 LSU.
Key moment
With 6:50 to play in the second quarter, Tennessee’s Talaysia Cooper hit a bucket to put the Lady Vols up 20-17. But Tennessee then went more than six minutes without a basket while South Carolina took control with its 18-1 run.
Key stat
In the second and third quarters, Tennessee shot 8 of 34 (23.5%) from the field and 1 of 15 (6.7%) on 3-pointers.
Up next
South Carolina: Hosts Auburn on Sunday.
Tennessee: At Missouri on Sunday.
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By AL LESAR
Associated Press
