Women’s Top 25 roundup: No. 2 South Carolina beats icy shooting start

Joyce Edwards came off the bench to net 20 points on 6-of-9 shooting as No. 2 South Carolina overcame a cold first quarter to beat visiting Charleston Southern 82-46 on Thursday in Columbia, S.C.

South Carolina (11-1) shot 2-for-14 from the field in the first quarter and let the Buccaneers take a 15-11 lead after the first 10 minutes. The Gamecocks flipped it to a 34-26 lead at halftime and broke away for good with an 18-4 run to end the third quarter.

Eight other players scored between six and nine points for South Carolina, which outshot Charleston Southern (4-9) 46 percent to 30 percent from the field and 33.3 percent to 17.6 percent from the 3-point arc.

Catherine Alben led the Buccaneers with 14 points and five rebounds.

No. 8 Maryland 107, William & Mary 57

Kaylene Smikle scored a game-high 21 points and Christina Dalce and Allie Kubek added double-doubles as the Terrapins remained undefeated by pasting the visiting Tribe in College Park, Md.

Dalce had 16 points and 11 rebounds and Kubek added 15 points and 11 boards. Saylor Poffenbarger collected a season-high 15 rebounds as Maryland (11-0) dominated the battle on the boards 62-28. The Terps turned 26 offensive rebounds into 39 second-chance points.

Bella Nascimento paced William & Mary (3-8) with 16 points and Jana Sallman added 11 points and a team-leading five rebounds.

No. 15 Michigan State 69, Montana 38

Julia Ayrault led four Spartans in double figures with 15 points in a rout of the Lady Griz as part of the West Palm Beach Classic in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

Ines Sotelo shot 6-of-8 to score 13 points, Theryn Hallock added 11 points and Grace VanSlooten had 10 for Michigan State (11-0), which continued its strong start and will meet Alabama on Friday in Florida before a Big Ten trip to Maryland on Dec. 29.

Adria Lincoln had a team-high seven points for Montana (4-6), which was held to 16-for-49 shooting from the field (32.7 percent) and lost 30 turnovers that Michigan State turned into 43 points.

–Field Level Media