COLUMBIA, S.C. — Joyce Edwards had 27 points and eight rebounds, and No. 1 seed South Carolina won its 17th straight home women’s NCAA tournament game with a 103-34 defeat of 16th-seeded Southern on Saturday.
Edwards and the Gamecocks (32-3) opened with a 15-0 burst and never let up against the Jaguars (20-14), the Southwestern Athletic Conference champions.
“I just thought they got out-talented tonight,” South Carolina coach Dawn Staley said of her opponent.
And there was plenty of talent on display for a program seeking its sixth straight Final Four.
Edwards was relentless down low, making 11 of 14 shots and being seemingly free on most possessions. In the second half, she and teammate Ta’Niya Latson forced a turnover near midcourt and after Latson gained control, she flipped the ball behind her back to an all-alone Edwards for an easy bucket as the home crowd roared.
“We missed being here. We hadn’t been here in a while,” said Staley, whose team improved to 83-1 at Colonial Life Arena the past five seasons. “I want our players to play with joy.”
South Carolina, already up 25 at the break, outscored Southern 32-2 in the third quarter.
Edwards said the team needed to get its timing after not playing since the Southeastern Conference tournament two weeks ago.
“You could tell we were a little rusty initially,” she said. “As a team, we got together and started hitting shots.”
The Gamecocks ended with their second-most points in an NCAA tournament game (after scoring 108 last year to open against Tennessee Tech) and put up their biggest margin of victory in their NCAA tourney history.
Edwards started the game-opening run with two baskets. Latson added five points in the opening run as Southern started 0-for-7 shooting with six turnovers.
Latson finished with 17 points while Madina Okot and Agot Makeer had 15 points each. Tessa Johnson had 14 points and a career-high 10 rebounds.
Southern had won its second NCAA tournament game in the First Four, defeating Samford 65-53. The Jaguars beat UC San Diego in that round last year before getting drubbed by Final Four team UCLA 84-46.
This time, the Jaguars ran into a South Carolina team anxious to get the tournament started after a disappointing defeat by Texas 78-61 in the Southeastern Conference tournament title game on March 8.
Jocelyn Tate had 10 points to lead Southern.
Southern coach Carlos Funchess understood the huge task his team faced. “They’re preparing to win win a national championship,” he said of the Gamecocks. “I’d do the same.”
Parting gift
Southern left with a small gift from Staley, a sample bottle of her Louis Vuitton perfume. Staley spoke to the team Wednesday at their hotel and when the team hugged and thanked her, more than one player commented on how nice the coach smelled. So that led Staley to arrange to have some samples sent to the Jaguars.
“It was just a small gesture. I had them, I probably wouldn’t use them, they could utilize them and I just did it,” Staley said.
South Carolina will next play either No. 8 seed Clemson or No. 9 seed Southern California in the second round on Monday.
