COLUMBIA, S.C. _ The tables were turned Monday night in UConn's 70-52 loss to South Carolina, in more ways than one.
UConn exited the court as a raucous sellout crowd at Colonial Life Arena celebrated South Carolina's first-ever win over the Huskies in nine tries. The team's convincing win was just another feather in its cap of a remarkable season in which the Gamecocks sport the No. 1 ranking in the country while starting three freshmen, haven't lost since late November and are on their way to a one-seed in the NCAA Tournament, where they'll be legit national title contenders.
The Huskies, on the other hand, weren't just on the losing side of history. They managed just two points the entire first quarter, putting them at a massive disadvantage the rest of the way against a South Carolina offense that just continued to get hotter. They once again faced offensive breakdowns that similarly doomed the Huskies against Baylor and Oregon. And, now with a third loss on the season, they are likely to drop out of the Associated Press' top five next week and may be in store for a three-seed come March.
After the game, a frustrated Geno Auriemma could only admit the increasingly obvious:
"Some years, the object is we're going to be a No. 1 seed and we're going to win the whole thing. This year, the object is: get through the season, get in the NCAA Tournament, see what happens. This year we're like every other team in the country."
That didn't stop him from also putting the loss into perspective.
"We're allowed to lose a ... game once in a while where the other team plays better than us," Auriemma said.
That South Carolina did.
UConn's offensive struggles on Monday were to a large extent more of the same that have plagued the Huskies this season, albeit against arguably the best defense they've face this year.
Crystal Dangerfield led the Huskies with 28 points, while Megan Walker and Olivia Nelson-Ododa added 10 apiece. Christyn Williams and Anna Makurat went a combined 2-for-14.
UConn rushed some of its early shots and went 1-for-16 in the first. Though Auriemma was happier with the shots as the game went on, the team just didn't make enough to close the gap any closer than 11. The Huskies ended the night with 36.1% shooting _ 6.3% in the first quarter and 33.3% in the fourth.
"Defensively, I thought they were really, really good, and they put a tremendous amount of pressure on us and on our perimeter game," Auriemma said. "They were not that much concerned with how much we would get inside, but they were really adamant about not giving us the 3s that we normally get, so when we didn't make any in the first quarter, I think it just put us in a hole that we couldn't get out of."
UConn's defense wasn't perfect, but it for the most part succeeded in its game plan: limit South Carolina's points in transition and on second-chance opportunities. By the game's end, the Huskies held the Gamecocks below their season averages in both categories, as they scored 13 fastbreak points and nine second-chance points. UConn actually bested the Gamecocks in the paint as well, 24-18.
What the Huskies weren't counting on, though, was for the Gamecocks to have so much success from beyond the arc. South Carolina made twice as many 3s as UConn on 8-for-22 shooting, which early in the game featured Aliyah Boston's first 3-point attempt (and make) of her career along with, what Auriemma considered "the back-breaker," a trio of 3s to start the second half at extend South Carolina's lead to 20.
"That's what good teams do," Auriemma said. "I mean, they're not No. 1 in the country for no reason. They don't have just one way to win games."
Four South Carolina starters scored in double figures, with senior Tyasha Harris leading the way with 19 points and 11 assists, Boston, a freshman, notching a double-double of 13 points and 12 rebounds, and freshman Zia Cooke chipping in 15 points.
After both offenses struggled from the start, combining for 3-for-22 shooting, Harris converted at the buzzer to give South Carolina an 11-2 advantage at the end of the first. UConn totaled four more turnovers than made shots in the period (1-for-16 shooting), which came from Walker's fastbreak layup. The Huskies' two points marked the school's lowest-scoring period since the game switched to quarters in 2014-15 (the previous low was six).
While UConn's defense helped it stay within single digits in the first, the unit struggled to get enough stops against a hot-shooting Gamecocks squad from the second quarter on, with South Carolina shooting 10-for-13 from the field and 3-for-4 on 3s in the second period alone. Adding insult to injury, South Carolina was twice able to take advantage of missed UConn layups, grabbing the defensive rebounds and scoring in transition on the next possession to add to its lead. Dangerfield and Nelson-Ododa combined for 15 second-quarter points in a much improved offensive showing for the Huskies, who were outscored by only three points in the period and shot 9-for-16, but the team still trailed by 12 going into the break.
Catastrophe ensued to start the second half: South Carolina scored the first eight points of the third quarter, as well as 15 of the period's first 25, to extend its lead to as many as 21. Walker and Dangerfield chipped in 13 combined points, and Williams knocked down a shot at the buzzer to make it a 13-point game entering the fourth.
Dangerfield opened the fourth with a jumper that pulled UConn within 11 and scored a basket that brought the score within 12 with 2:33 to play, but UConn couldn't get on the board for the remainder of the game, ensuring the Gamecocks' victory.
