No. 1 South Carolina women stunned by fifth-ranked UCLA 77-62, ending Gamecocks’ 43-game win streak

AP Sports Writer

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Londynn Jones scored 15 points, making all five of her 3-pointers, and fifth-ranked UCLA stunned No. 1 South Carolina 77-62 on Sunday, ending the Gamecocks’ overall 43-game winning streak and their run of 33 consecutive road victories.

The Gamecocks (5-1) lost for the first time since April 2023, when Caitlin Clark and Iowa beat them in the NCAA Tournament national semifinals.

Te-Hina Paopao scored 18 points and Tessa Johnson scored 14 for the Gamecocks, whose road winning streak was third-longest in Division I history.

It was the first time UCLA took down a No. 1 team in school history, having been 0-20 in such games. The program’s previous best wins were over a couple of No. 2s — Oregon in 2019 and Stanford in 2008.

Elina Aarnisalo added 13 points as one of five Bruins in double figures.

UCLA (5-0) dominated from start to finish, with the Bruins’ suffocating defense preventing the Gamecocks from making any sustained scoring runs.

Takeaways

South Carolina: The Gamecocks trailed by double-digits at halftime for the first time since Dec. 21, 2021, against Stanford, according to ESPN. Chloe Kitts, who averages a team-leading 14 points, finished the game with 2 points on 1 of 7 shooting.

UCLA: The Bruins led 43-22 at halftime. Eight different players scored and contributed to 11-0 and 7-0 runs in the first and second quarters as they shot 52% from the field.

Key moment

The first quarter set the tone for a game in which the Gamecocks never led. They missed their first nine shots and were 4 of 18 from the floor in the quarter. UCLA ran off 11 straight points to take a 20-10 lead into the second quarter.

Key stats

The Bruins dominated the boards, 41-34, and held the Gamecocks well under their scoring average of 80.2 points.

Up next

South Carolina travels to Florida to meet Iowa State in the Fort Myers Tipoff on Thanksgiving. UCLA travels to the Rainbow Wahine Showdown in Hawaii to play UT Martin on Friday.

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