South Carolina had its run of 43 straight wins come to an end this past Sunday as Dawn Staley and the Gamecocks suffered a 77-62 loss at UCLA.

Staley said after the loss and ahead of the matchup with Iowa State on Thursday that she thought her team would respond the right way. Needless to say the Gamecocks did against Iowa State, pounding the Cyclones 76-36 on Thanksgiving Day.

“That’s what a team does. This is a resilient group,” Dawn Staley said. “This is a team that obviously hasn’t dealt with a whole lot of losing. It’ll shake you for a moment.

“We’ve got a 24-hour rule. Bask in the glory of a defeat and you handle a defeat. And you handle it with grace, but you handle it with learning lessons. Things were exposed and hopefully we can fill some of those holes and get back to happier times.”

It was certainly a happier time for South Carolina on Thursday. The Gamecocks led Iowa State 19-3 at the end of the first quarter and 35-9 at halftime.

South Carolina went on a 32-0 run at one point in the first half and easily handled an Iowa State team that was ranked No. 15 nationally.

Dawn Staley said ahead of the game that she wanted her team to play better offensively and it did. South Carolina shot 45.3 percent from the floor against Iowa State after connecting on only 36.4 percent of its attempts against UCLA.

“Our offense, just getting better looks and getting better ball movement,” Dawn Staley said of where South Carolina needed to improve. “The ball has been sticking too much to individual players and it’s stagnant.

“We need to get our bigs involved, so we’re going to look to get them involved in positions they can score, whether that’s two feet in the paint or hitting mid-range shots. If you’ve got 3-point range, you can take good, fluid, rhythm 3s.”

South Carolina relied on a balanced scoring attack against Iowa State as senior forward Sania Feagin and freshman forward Joyce Edwards led the way with 13 points each.

The Gamecocks will be back in action on Saturday when they face Purdue in Fort Meyers, Florida. Tip off is set for 11 a.m.

Clemson and South Carolina will renew their annual rivalry on Saturday when the No. 12 Tigers host the No. 15 Gamecocks at high noon in Death Valley.

This will be the 121st all-time meeting between the two schools but with College Football Playoff implications on the line for both teams, this year’s matchup is arguably the biggest to date in the long, storied history of the series.

The Gamecocks (8-3) come in riding high, having won five straight, while the Tigers (9-2) are in the midst of a three-game winning streak.

5 Things to Watch

1. Strength vs. Strength: Football is generally a game of matchups and one of the biggest in this game is Clemson’s much-improved offense against that stout South Carolina defense. Make no mistake, this as good of a defense as the Tigers have seen this season. It’s comparable with Georgia’s and nobody has forgotten how this offense looked that day.

The Gamecocks will bring an elite-level defensive line to town and there are guys on the backend of that defense that will be playing on Sundays. If Clemson has any shot at winning this game, the offense is going to have to be efficient and balanced. Scoring touchdowns is a must. Last year the offense failed to score a touchdown in this game. A bunch of field goals will not cut it on Saturday.

2. Create Turnovers: Whoever wins the turnover battle probably wins this game. The Tigers are +13 in the margin and South Carolina has been prone to turning it over at times. It’s something they’ve gotten a little cleaned up in recent weeks, but they still have lost 11 fumbles this season. They are only +3 in the margin. Clemson being able to create some takeaways, while continuing to protect the football, should prove to be beneficial.

3. Pressure the Quarterback: There are two things the Tigers absolutely can not do. Number one, they can not afford to allow LaNorris Sellers to get comfortable in the pocket. For most of the season, Clemson’s pass rush has not been what most believed it would be, but in the wins over Virginia Tech and Pitt, it’s started to come around. Getting after Sellers is a must. South Carolina has allowed 36 sacks this season, but just four in the past three games, with three of those coming in the win over Wofford.

Second, the Tigers must keep Sellers contained in the pocket. If running lanes are left open, Sellers will find them and next thing you know he has darted for 20 yards or more. He is as good of a running quarterback as Clemson has seen and athletic quarterbacks have been an issue for this defense at times. He is very quick to make something out of nothing. And then when they get hands on him they must bring him down. Sellers is really good at running through contact.

4. Klubnik Time: There is no getting around the fact that Cade Klubnik is drastically improved over what he was at this point last season. There is a night and day difference. Having said that, if Clemson is going to win this game, Klubnik is going to have to bring it. This South Carolina defense is going to bring the heat and it is under those conditions that the junior quarterback has, at times, faltered.

Klubnik is the unquestioned leader on the offensive side of the ball, and it is him that will need to lead the Tigers to victory. Making good decisions and keeping his poise will be key. However, it’s his legs that could prove to be the difference.

5A. Slow Down Running Game: How frustrating has it been watching the Tigers’ run defense this season? Clemson is allowing right at 150 yards per game on the ground. They don’t even rank inside of the Top 50 in rush defense.

Rocket Sanders is averaging right at five yards per carry and is a hard-nosed runner. However, as noted above, it’s Sellers that might be more dangerous. The redshirt freshman has right at 700 rushing yards, so the Gamecocks rely heavily on him making plays with his legs.

If Clemson is going to come away victorious, they need an effort similar to what we saw in the win over Virginia Tech, when the Tigers totally shut down that high-powered ground game of the Hokies. Getting Wade Woodaz back would help tremendously, and it sounds like he’s trending towards playing. Either way. slowing down that ground game and making that offense beat you through the air is crucial.

5B. No Special Teams Miscues: If there was ever a game in which you needed to be sharp on special teams, this is it. No fumbles on kickoffs and none on punt returns. Not to mention, you can’t let the Gamecocks block any field goals. Nolan Hauser has had six field goals blocked this season, all due to the protection breaking down in front of him. Those are huge momentum shifting plays, and Clemson can ill-afford to have any of those this week.

A limited number of signed replica road signs from Cade Klubnik are available!  Visit Clemson Variety & Frame or purchase online! 

The 4th-ranked South Carolina Gamecocks women’s basketball team next ships off to the Sunshine State for a matchup with No. 15 Iowa State at the Fort Myers Tip-off. The game is scheduled to start at 1:30 p.m. ET with TV coverage on FOX and streaming on-demand.

• How to watch: Live streams of the South Carolina vs. Iowa State game are available with offers from FuboTV (free trial), SlingTV (low intro rate) and DirecTV Stream (free trial).
• For a limited time, FuboTV is offering $30 off the first month after the free trial period. With the $30 offer, plans start at $49.99.

#4 South Carolina Gamecocks (5-1) vs. #15 Iowa State Cyclones (5-1)

NCAA women’s basketball matchup at a glance

When: Thursday, Nov. 28 at 1:30 p.m. ET

Where: Suncoast Credit Union Arena, Fort Myers, Fla.

TV channel: FOX

Live streams: FuboTV (free trial) | SlingTV (low intro rate) | DirecTV Stream (free trial)

Both South Carolina and Iowa State lost their first games of the 2024-’25 season within the past eight days, with the Gamecocks falling on the road to No. 5 UCLA (77-62) on Sunday and the Cyclones to Northern Iowa (87-75) last Wednesday in Cedar Falls. South Carolina is now 5-1 in its defense of the 2024 NCAA women’s championship with a top-10 win over NC State highlighting the team’s early-season résumé. The Gamecocks will be Iowa State’s first ranked opponent after falling to No. 2 seed Stanford in overtime (87-81) in the second round of last season’s NCAA Tournament

South Carolina Gamecocks vs. Iowa State Cyclones: Know your live streaming options

• FuboTV (free trial) – excellent viewer experience with huge library of live sports content; free trial lengths vary; monthly rate after free trial starts at $59.99 after current $20 discount offer.
• SlingTV (low intro rate) – discounted first month is best if you’ve run out of free trials or you’re in the market for 1+ month of TV
• DirecTV Stream (free trial) – not the same level of viewer experience as FuboTV, but the standard 7-day free trial is still the longest in streaming.

South Carolina and Iowa State are set for a 1:30 p.m. ET start on FOX. Live streams are available from FuboTV (free trial), DirecTV Stream (free trial) and SlingTV (low intro rate).