No. 6 Gamecocks Annihilate No. 14 Maryland 114-76

South Carolina's women's basketball team won their second straight Top 15 matchup of the season in a 114-76 blowout win over Maryland.

Early in the first quarter, the South Carolina Gamecocks seemed rushed in their home opener against the No. 14 Maryland Terrapins, leading to some early fouls and turnovers. They had three turnovers and four fouls in the first quarter, and struggled from the three-point line, going 1-7 from behind the arc. In spite of their miscues, they managed to end the quarter tied at sixteen.

In the second quarter, they played much better team basketball, outscoring Maryland 32-20 mainly due to their 62.5 percent three-point shooting for the period. Te-Hina Paopao led the way, making every one of her threes and leading the team with nine points. Chloe Kitts also played a considerable role with here rebounding and had 8 points to go with that.

Chole Kitts points out an assignment  / © Presse Sports-USA TODAY Sports

In the third quarter, Chloe Kitts took over and dominated for the Gamecocks. Kitts continued to give this team second chance opportunities and had four rebounds alone in the third to go with five more points to lead the team. Not only did Kitts have a big quarter, the team shot 55% from the floor and perfect from behind the arc.

It was the same in the final period, where the Gamecocks seemingly couldn't do anything wrong. Ashlyn Watson took over where Kitts left off, becoming a problem on the boards, and earned herself a double-double in the fourth quarter, finishing the game with 13 points and 11 rebounds. Overall, it was a great team effort and another excellent performance, and the Gamecocks have a great argument to be potentially the No. 1 team in the country when the new rankings come out tomorrow.

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