South Carolina Women's Basketball Survives Paris: No. 1 Gamecocks Beat Maryland 101-93 After a 31-Point Lead Nearly Slips Away
The season opener in Paris was a rout for a half and a scramble after it: South Carolina led by 31 in the third quarter, Maryland scored 60 in the second half, and the nation's top team still walked out 1-0.
The college basketball season opened in Paris on Monday with the nation's No. 1 team showing both halves of itself. South Carolina beat No. 17 Maryland 101-93 at Adidas Arena, a final score that hides how lopsided the start was: the Gamecocks ran the first quarter 33-14 and took a 28-point lead into halftime.
The game nearly turned anyway. South Carolina's lead reached 31 points at the 9:34 mark of the third quarter, and then Maryland owned the rest of the afternoon, outscoring the Gamecocks 60-40 in the second half to pull within single digits before time ran out on the comeback. Joyce Edwards led South Carolina with 23 points on 10-for-19 shooting.
The returns mattered as much as the result. Chloe Kitts, back after more than a year away from the court, started and finished with 8 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists and a block in 19 minutes, and Ashlyn Watkins, also returning, added 7 points, 10 rebounds, 2 steals and 2 blocks in 21 minutes off the bench - the frontcourt depth head coach Dawn Staley needed on a day her starters' big lead did not hold. South Carolina (1-0) is back stateside on Sunday, November 8, against No. 11 North Carolina in Charlotte. For Pensacola's hoops fans, the local season starts tonight at the UWF Field House - but the national season started in Paris, and it started with a warning to the No. 1 team: nobody is coasting this year.
