South Carolina Women’s Basketball Update: Home Win Streak Ends, Falls Out of Top Five, and New Title Favorites Emerge

South Carolina’s season has taken a surprising turn as they’ve now dropped three games and fallen in the rankings. The big question remains: how will they respond to this adversity?

The loss to UConn last weekend wasn’t necessarily unexpected—after all, the Huskies are a solid team capable of beating anyone. UConn has had a few hiccups this season, but they’ve still proven themselves to be a force. What truly shocked fans was the manner in which they defeated South Carolina. UConn ran away with an 87-58 victory, marking the lowest point total and highest points allowed by South Carolina this season. It was the first time in over a year that the Gamecocks scored fewer than 60 points in a game—since January 2023 against Mississippi State—and it was the most points they’ve allowed since January 2021 against Arkansas.

The key difference here, though, was that in previous losses where one aspect of their game faltered, South Carolina managed to find a way to pull through. Against UConn, both offense and defense were simply off.

Let’s dive deeper into some of the key takeaways from the Gamecocks’ loss on Sunday.

End of the Home Win Streak

Before facing UConn, South Carolina boasted an impressive 71-game home win streak. The last time they lost at home was December 3, 2020, against NC State, in a game where they struggled offensively, scoring only 46 points. Even though they couldn’t buy a bucket that night, the defense kept them in the game, limiting NC State to 54 points. But that loss was a turning point; the Gamecocks went on to win 12 straight games, starting their dominant home stretch. The streak culminated on February 13 with a commanding 38-point win over Florida, following a close loss to Texas.

While the end of the home streak is a notable setback, this loss doesn’t have major long-term consequences for South Carolina. Since it wasn’t a conference loss, it won’t affect their SEC standing, and the Gamecocks are still in control of their path to securing a top seed for the NCAA Tournament—winning out in the regular season and clinching the SEC Tournament title will likely guarantee them a spot in the top seeds.

South Carolina Drops Out of the Top 5

After the UConn loss, South Carolina fell to No. 6 in the AP poll—marking the first time this season they’ve been outside of the top five. In fact, this is the first time since the preseason poll of 2023-24 that the Gamecocks haven’t been ranked in the top five. Their fall to No. 6 is a bit of a rarity in recent seasons, with their last drop outside of the top five coming before the 2020-21 NCAA Tournament when they were also ranked No. 6. It’s an unfamiliar position for a program that’s been at the top for quite a while.

Title Odds Take a Hit

While South Carolina may not have been the No. 1 ranked team going into the UConn matchup, they were still considered the favorites to win it all. Their mix of experience and strong coaching made them the team to beat. However, after the loss to UConn, the Gamecocks’ title odds have taken a hit. At BetMGM, their odds have dropped to +325, putting them in second place behind UConn, now the favorites at +200.

Following the Gamecocks, UCLA, Notre Dame, and USC round out the top five teams in betting odds. Texas, which defeated South Carolina two weeks ago, sits in sixth, followed by LSU, Tennessee, Duke, and Ohio State.

Do these shifts in odds matter? It’s too early to say. The race for the title this season is wide open, and with the top teams all having had stumbles, it’s clear that anything can happen. UConn might have looked dominant against South Carolina, but they’ve suffered losses to teams like Notre Dame, USC, and Tennessee, so it’s not as straightforward as the odds might suggest.