ESTERO, Fla. – The Rutgers women's basketball team closed to within three points with 4:24 left to play with No. 3/2 South Carolina in the opening round of the Gulf Coast Showcase on Friday afternoon, but the defending national champions would hold on to hand the Scarlet Knights their first loss of the season, 78-68.

South Carolina kicked off the final quarter of play with a nine-point, 54-45, edge before Rutgers pulled within a possession of the 2017 NCAA Division I champs just after the midway point of the frame.

Rollins sunk a floater in the lane and immediately got the ball back on a steal. While a Ciani Cryor 3-pointer was off-target, the Scarlet Knights maintained control off one of junior forward Caitlin Jenkin's eight rebounds. After a timeout, junior guard Khadaizha Sanders was fouled going to the hoop while time on the shot clock expired. The ball went in and she went to the line to complete the "and one" to bring RU within striking distance at 63-60.

The Gamecocks, however, got seven points from Wilson, including five from the charity stripe, during a 7-2 South Carolina run to maintain the lead.

Redshirt senior guard Tyler Scaife led a trio of Rutgers (4-1) players in double figures with 20 points. Freshman forward Tekia Mack contributed 13 points, including an 8-of-9 performance from the line, along with five rebounds and four steals. Senior guard Jazlynd Rollins also dropped in 10 points in the loss.

The Gamecocks (5-0) were led by A'ja Wilson's 33 points and Lindsey Spann's 17.

The game opened with both teams needing time to light up the scoreboard as it took over three minutes before the game's first field goal was sunk. Scaife finally got the game going for Rutgers and was helped by a 5-0 run by Mack to put the Scarlet Knights up 9-3 at the midway point of the opening quarter.

South Carolina punched back with a 9-0 run to establish a lead, but Scaife returned the advantage back to her Scarlet Knights with back-to-back buckets as Rutgers held on 13-12 at the 1:43 mark.

The Scarlet Knights unfortunately relinquished the lead as the Gamecocks employed a 12-0 run to end the first quarter and start the second quarter.

South Carolina led by as many as 11, 28-17, with 6:02 left until the half.

Rutgers, however, managed to whittle down the Gamecocks' largest lead of the game down to two. A Cryor shot from downtown followed by two-straight traditional 3-point plays by Scaife saw the Scarlet Knights trail just 28-26 with 3:24 to go in the second quarter.

South Carolina would hold Rutgers scoreless for the remainder of the quarter to establish a 33-26 lead at the half.

Spann kicked off the third quarter with a 3-pointer for a 36-26 double-digit Gamecock advantage. RU would pull within three points of the South Carolina edge twice, including a Rollins' layup with 3:54 that saw the Scarlet Knights down 43-40.

The Gamecocks added to the lead and went ahead, 52-45, heading into the fourth quarter.


  
With the win South Carolina advances to meet St. John's while Rutgers will take on Western Michigan in second round play. The Scarlet Knights and Broncos tipoff at 11 a.m. on Saturday.
 
KNIGHT NOTES

• Rutgers once against used all 14 members of the roster in Friday's game with South Carolina. The starting line-up of redshirt senior guard Tyler Scaife and Kathleen Fitzpatrick, junior guard Khadaizha Sanders, redshirt junior Stasha Carey and junior center Victoria Harris for the fifth-straight game.
• Tyler Scaife had second 20+ point scoring effort of the season and 34^th of her career. She also has led RU in scoring four of RU's five games to-date and 50 times in her career.
• With her 20 points, Scaife became the eighth Scarlet Knight in history to score over 1,700 career points. The Little Rock, Arkansas native is now 59 points away from moving into seventh place on the all-time scoring leaders list. She currently has 1,704 points.
• Tekia Mack netted a season-high 13 points. Her previous high was eight points in the victory over Wake Forest.

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