South Carolina's women's basketball team travelled to frigid Knoxville, Thursday night, and despite a spirited effort, fell to the fourth-ranked Lady Vols by a score of 79-62. The Gamecocks stayed close for 7 minutes, but the Lady Vols reeled off an early 10-0 run to make the score 31-20 and while USC got closer, several times, it just wasn't enough to overtake the Tennessee team.

Junior guard Valerie Nainima led the Gamecock scoring with 16 points, followed by freshman center Kelsey bone and sophomore guard LaKeisha Sutton with 10 points apiece. Sophomore forward Charenee Stephens led all players with 10 rebounds.

Junior guard Angie Bjorklund led the Lady Vols' scoring with 23 points and sophomore G-F Shekinna Stricklen added 21. Sophomore forward Glory Johnson, coming off the bench, led her team in rebounding with 9.

Redshirt sophomore center Kelley Cain may have been the biggest difference-maker in the game, blocking 6 Gamecock shots; the USC team had no blocked shots. The Lady Vols were also more efficient on defense, capitalizing on only 13 Gamecocks turnovers by scoring 18 points. The Gamecocks had only 6 points off turnovers.

The Gamecocks have a brutal conference schedule, this season, and are still learning and building on each lesson learned as they navigate their way through the SEC conference schedule.

The Gamecocks travel to Alabama to take on the Crimson Tide this Sunday, January 10th.