South Carolina women's basketball news: Texas loss, UConn looms, Paopao on Naismith watchlist

For the first time in over two years, South Carolina's women's basketball team has lost a conference game.

The loss to Texas dropped the Gamecocks to the No. 4 spot in the country, tying its lowest rating of the season from the Nov. 25 poll.

Let's take a look at three news items this week for South Carolina women's basketball

South Carolina suffers its first SEC loss

As Kansas sang in "Dust In The Wind," "nothing lasts forever but the earth and sky." For a while there, it looked like you could add "and South Carolina's SEC win streak" to the lyrics, but after Sunday that's no longer the case.

In the first meeting of the Horns and Gamecocks back in January, Texas was able to do a good job defensively against South Carolina but it didn't end up mattering because the Longhorns couldn't hit the broad side of a barn. Madison Booker shot 15.8 percent from the floor and only one Texas player, Kyla Oldacre, scored in double figures.

But Sunday's game was in Austin, and the home crowd helped the Longhorns do the impossible: knock off South Carolina.

This time, it was the Gamecocks who had only one player finish in double figures, with MiLaysia Fulwiley scoring 13 off the bench. Meanwhile, Booker led Texas with 20 points, making big buckets when they mattered most, She still struggled with her efficiency, but a 31.8 percent shooting night is a lot better than a 15.8 percent shooting night.

The loss was South Carolina's first SEC loss since the 2022 SEC tournament when the team lost 64-62 to Kentucky and the team's first regular season conference loss since Dec. 20, 2021, when the team lost an overtime game against Missouri.

To add insult to injury, Texas didn't even make a single 3-pointer in the victory, going 0-for-4 from deep. There was no luck involved. The Horns simply outplayed South Carolina, something that very rarely happens.

Florida offers a great opportunity to get back on track, but UConn looms

The good news for South Carolina is that Thursday night offers a strong bounce-back opportunity as the team plays host to Florida. Her Hoop Stats gives the team a 98.2 percent chance to win that one, and overall the team has an 80 percent or better chance to win each of its remaining conference games. It would be shocking to see the Gamecocks lose another SEC game before the conference tournament.

But the Gamecocks aren't all the way in the clear yet, because UConn is coming on Sunday, with the Huskies set to head to Columbia for a big non-conference matchup.

UConn leads the nation in net rating, outscoring opponents by an average of 42.0 points per 100 possessions, but you also have to factor in that the team plays in the Big East, so it's night-to-night games are easier than a team like South Carolina's.

In fact, the Gamecocks should feel pretty good about this matchup. UConn has played three teams this season who rank in the top 10 in Her Hoop Stats rating. The Huskies are 0-3 in those games, including a Feb. 6 loss to Tennessee.

Yes, UConn is dominating against teams like Providence and St. John's, and all 23 of the team's wins have been by 11 or more points, but South Carolina's defense is bound to give Paige Bueckers and company fits. That's not to say South Carolina should look past this game, but the Gamecocks should be in a strong position to pick up the win in the battle of top 10 teams in the AP Poll.

Te-Hina Paopao named to Naismith watchlist

On Wednesday, the Jersey Mike's Naismith Trophy Women's College Player of the Year Midseason Team was released and there's one name on the list that should excite South Carolina fans: point guard Te-Hina Paopao.

Paopao is averaging 10.3 points, 2.7 assists and 1.0 steals per game this season. Those numbers might not look as impressive as some other players on the list, but Paopao is shooting 37.0 percent from deep and has been the engine that's fueled this very good Gamecocks team.

Paopao is joined on the list by big-name players like UCLA's Lauren Betts, UConn's Paige Bueckers and Notre Dame's Olivia Miles. The list of 30 players will be trimmed to 15 before the season is up, with those 15 names being on the ballot for the John R. Wooden Award Women’s Player of the Year award.

Two South Carolina players have been awarded the Naismith, with A'ja Wilson winning in 2018 and Aliyah Boston in 2022. Both went on to be No. 1 overall picks in the WNBA Draft.

While it's unlikely Paopao will add her name to that elite list, her inclusion shows how vital she is to the success of one of the nation's best college basketball teams.