COLUMBIA, South Carolina — There would be no 62-point margin of victory, not this time. But South Carolina still had too much size, too much depth, and too much home support to be denied in the opening round of the NCAA women’s basketball tournament.The top-seeded Gamecocks dominated in the paint, and turned a close game into a runway with a 21-1 second half run that knocked out 16th-seded Savannah State 81-48 Friday at Colonial Life Arena. Third-ranked USC plays either No. 8 seed Syracuse or No. 9 seed Nebraska in the second round Sunday at 7 p.m.
The Gamecocks (31-2), the top seed in the Greensboro Regional, are now one win away from their third trip to the Sweet 16 in as many seasons. Hosting the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2002, South Carolina also ran its home winning streak to 33 games.
USC beat Savannah State by 62 points when the two teams met in December in Columbia, but from tipoff it was clear this would be a different game. The MEAC tournament champions were within 13 at the half, and despite the Gamecocks’ dominant inside presence were still within 10 with 15:55 remaining in the game.
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