COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Joyce Edwards had 23 points and 10 rebounds, Madina Okot added her 22nd double-double this season with 15 points and 15 rebounds and top-seeded South Carolina advanced to its 12th straight Sweet 16 with a 101-61 victory over No. 9 seed Southern California in the women's NCAA Tournament on Monday night.
The Gamecocks (33-3) opened with a 13-0 run, were ahead 51-21 at halftime and cruised to their 18th straight NCAA win at home. They'll get a rematch at the Sacramento 4 regional when they face fourth-seeded Oklahoma, one of two teams to defeat South Carolina this season.
USC advanced to the Elite Eight the past two seasons led by the superstar JuJu Watkins, who tore her ACL in last year's NCAA Tournament. This time, all Watkins could do was watch from her seat on the bench as her teammates had no answers for the Gamecocks.
Okot, the 6-foot-6 Mississippi State transfer, had 10 points and 11 rebounds before halftime while fifth-year point guard Raven Johnson, playing her final game at Colonial Life Arena, reached 1,000 career points in the opening half.
South Carolina's defense locked down hard on the Trojans, especially freshman leading scorer Jazzy Davidson, who had 31 points in her team's opening-round 71-67 OT win over Clemson on Saturday.
Davidson finished with 16 points, but made 5 of 15 from the field. Londynn Jones led USC with 20 points.
The Trojans lost for fifth time in their past six games with this being the largest margin of defeat in their NCAA Tournament history, surpassing an 85-51 loss to Duke in the second round in 2006.
Up next
South Carolina will face Oklahoma, one of two teams it lost to this season (Texas beat the Gamecocks twice), in Sacramento on Saturday.
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AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-womens-bracket and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness
