In a road matchup against surging Texas A&M with the SEC lead on the line, South Carolina fought hard to dig itself out of a deep hole but failed to finish the job. The Lady Gamecocks fell in overtime 67-65 after being doubled up 34-17 at the half.
Needless to say, this was a game of two halves. TAMU dominated the first half to race out to its big lead. While the Lady Gamecocks couldn't hit a shot and turned the ball over against Texas A&M's aggressive man defense several times in the first half, they were much more potent offensively in the second half, mixing up effective post play and good outside shooting to more than double their first-half points total. Similarly, whereas A&M's offense benefited from good shooting, offensive rebounding, and points off turnovers in the first half, it couldn't get much going in the second. However, to the Lady Aggies' credit, once Carolina nearly completed its comeback bid and pushed the game to within a score, A&M responded and kept Carolina from tying the game up until the final seconds, when Carolina managed to force a turnover on an A&M inbounds play. After a timeout, Tiffany Mitchell banked in a three to tie the game and send it to overtime. The Aggies regrouped and won the game in the extra period.
A&M's ability to use its defensive pressure to force turnovers proved costly for Carolina in this game. The Lady Aggies benefited from 20 Carolina turnovers, while they only committed eight themselves. South Carolina shot 41% from the field to A&M's 34.7, but A&M took so many more shots than Carolina that it didn't matter. Carolina's struggles from the foul line also loomed large in the loss.
With the loss, Carolina drops to 16-2 on the season and 4-1 in the SEC. A&M now leads the SEC with a 4-0 record. Carolina will look to bounce back against a struggling Alabama team in its next contest.