Edwards scores career-high 28, No. 4 South Carolina routs Florida

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Freshman Joyce Edwards scored a career-high 28 points as No. 4 South Carolina bounced back from its loss at No. 3 Texas last week with a 101-63 blowout of Florida on Thursday night.

The Gamecocks (23-2, 11-1 Southeastern Conference) pulled away early, up 36-15 after one quarter, and cruised to their 71st straight win at home and their 17th in a row over the Gators (12-13, 3-8).

Edwards surpassed her previous best of 21 points set against Alabama last month. It was a welcome performance by the team’s leading scorer, who had a combined 15 points in South Carolina’s previous two games.

Te’Hina Paopao finished with 14 points including four of the team’s eight 3-pointers. She also had seven rebounds and led the Gamecocks with seven assists, her best showing against an SEC opponent in two seasons in the league.

Liv McGill led Florida with 15 points.

Takeaways

Florida: The Gators picked the wrong time to play the Gamecocks, who had been itching to get back on the court since their 66-62 loss to No. 3 Texas last Sunday. Florida shot just 30.6% in the first two quarters as South Carolina poured it on.

South Carolina: It was a good performance in preparation for another big one Sunday against UConn, which has been an annual event for the two powerhouse programs.

Key moment

Paopao put this one away with three 3-pointers in the game’s first five minutes as the Gamecocks took a 17-8 lead.

Key stat

South Carolina reached the 100-point mark for a second time this season. It defeated Oklahoma 101-60 on Jan. 19.

Up next

Florida returns home to play Mississippi State on Sunday. South Carolina plays its last non-conference game when it hosts No. 7 UConn on Sunday.

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