South-Carolina
What Mississippi State women’s basketball said is missing after loss to South Carolina, Dawn Staley
STARKVILLE — The vibes were high in Humphrey Coliseum early in the second quarter.
Mississippi State women’s basketball center Madina Okot had just converted a layup off a sweet one-handed pass from Denim DeShields. It gave MSU its largest lead Sunday afternoon, an 11-point advantage over No. 2 South Carolina, the defending national champion. The Bulldogs’ fast start looked formidable. Maybe, just maybe, a triumphant upset and signature win for coach Sam Purcell was brewing.
Then South Carolina turned into the team that’s lost just once in the past 1 1/2 seasons. The Gamecocks (14-1, 2-0 SEC) outscored Mississippi State 51-17 from that moment through the end of the third quarter to power toward a 95-68 victory.
The Bulldogs (13-3, 0-2) have lost consecutive conference games by at least 22 points with more ranked opponents like Oklahoma, Tennessee, Ole Miss and LSU looming in the next month. Purcell believes the Bulldogs have the right pieces, however, to compete at the top of the SEC.
“I don’t think there’s really anything missing,” he said. “I really think it showed in the first quarter when you got 22-13 on the No. 1 team in the country that you have the pieces. Now, it’s just making sure that they handle it all right.”
What changed for Mississippi State in the second quarter
MSU took its 28-17 lead with 6:48 remaining in the second quarter. Four and a half minutes later, South Carolina took the lead and never gave it back.
South Carolina shot 6-for-9 from 3-point range and didn’t commit a foul in the quarter.
“I think it started with sometimes the whistle goes your way, sometimes it doesn’t,” Purcell said. “I think we had zero whistle calls for us in the second quarter, and they had several. So then the game started slowing down. They got to the line, and you can’t have seven turnovers in one quarter. We talked about that. We value the ball. We know we’ve done so good, but we just had some dagger turnovers that allowed them to get some easy transition opportunities.”
Turnovers continue to be an issue for Mississippi State
Purcell warned before the season started that turnovers would be an issue, and it’s come to fruition.
MSU committed 20 against South Carolina. The Gamecocks scored 23 points off those turnovers. It’s tied for the second most turnovers the Bulldogs have committed this season and the eighth time they’ve had at least 17 in a game.
Many of them are self-inflicted, too, such as off-target passes or simply bad decisions.
Mississippi State commits 16.1 turnovers per game, fifth worst in the SEC. Eniya Russell, DeShields and Okot all have more than 40 turnovers this season.
“Watch film, watch film, watch film, watch film,” said Destiney McPhaul, who scored 14 points off the bench. “The way you get better is you watch to see what you did wrong, learn from it and talk about it. You are going to make mistakes. You ain’t going to be perfect, but turnovers have been our biggest issue so far. We got to take care of the ball.”
Sam Sklar is the Mississippi State beat reporter for the Clarion Ledger. Email him at ssklar@gannett.com and follow him on X @sklarsam_.
South-Carolina
Dawn Staley addresses ‘ducking’ with South Carolina basketball vs UConn back on schedule
COLUMBIA — South Carolina women’s basketball won’t play UConn this season, the first time in 11 seasons but will resume the rivalry in 2026 and 2027.
“It’s important,” Gamecocks coach Dawn Staley said Nov. 6 about adding the series back on the schedule. “We’ve been accused of ducking and all that crap. Like, come on, we played UConn for the past 11 seasons, now is time to duck? We could have ducked 7, 8, 9 years ago.”
It was announced on Nov. 5 that the Gamecocks will play the Huskies in Uncasville, Connecticut, on Nov. 24, 2026, at Mohegan Sun Arena in the Basketball Hall of Fame Women’s Showcase.
A day later, it was revealed that South Carolina and UConn will play in 2027 in the Ally Tipoff at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Staley confirmed that the reason why the series contract was not renewed for this season was because the Big East shifted to 20 conference games, which made it hard to schedule. UConn already had a non-conference contract to follow through with Tennessee and Notre Dame.
The online discourse that Staley referred to came after it was announced the two teams wouldn’t play this season, just after UConn beat South Carolina twice in 2024-25. The Gamecocks lost at home in February then again in the national championship game, both by more than 20 points.
“It’s a great competition for us and for women’s basketball,” Staley added.
Before the 2025 title game, Staley was undefeated in national championship games and had previously become the first coach to beat UConn’s Geno Auriemma in a championship game.
Staley, who is in her 18th season, didn’t win against Auriemma until 2020. South Carolina won four straight from 2021-24.
What is Dawn Staley’s record vs Geno Auriemma?
Staley is 1-1 against Auriemma in national championship games and 5-10 against him overall, winning four straight from 2021-24.
Overall, the Gamecocks are 5-11 in the series, which is tied 2-2 in neutral site games. South Carolina beat UConn in Columbia in 2024, part of its undefeated season that ended with a national championship win.
Lulu Kesin covers South Carolina athletics for The Greenville News and the USA TODAY Network. Email her at lkesin@gannett.com. Follow her on X@Lulukesin and Bluesky@bylulukesin.bsky.social
South-Carolina
Former South Carolina House member indicted on federal charges of defrauding legal clients
A former South Carolina state lawmaker has been indicted on federal allegations that he schemed to defraud his legal clients.
According to court papers, a federal grand jury on Wednesday indicted former Rep. Marvin Pendarvis, a Democrat and attorney, on 10 charges including wire fraud, aggravated identity theft and money laundering.
Federal prosecutors said that Pendarvis, between 2022 and 2024, negotiated financial settlements on behalf of his clients, but didn’t tell them that he had received the funds. Instead, according to the government, Pendarvis — who was at the time serving as a lawmaker representing the Charleston area — allegedly pocketed the money himself, either not telling his clients the money had been obtained, or ultimately giving them lesser sums than what he had negotiated.
In all, according to prosecutors, Pendarvis deposited more half a million dollars into his law firm’s trust fund account, from which he paid nothing to clients.
A message left Wednesday with Pendarvis was not immediately returned.
Pendarvis’ law license was suspended last year after a former client accused him of forging his signature to reach a settlement in a lawsuit without his permission. The order issued then by the state Supreme Court didn’t detail why the suspension had been recommended, but the former client — whose initials matched one of the alleged victims detailed in Wednesday’s indictment — accused Pendarvis of sending him text messages asking him not to sue over the alleged forgery.
“Let’s handle this (expletive). No need to try and hurt me man. I can help you,” Pendarvis wrote Lewis in text messages filed with the state lawsuit, which is still pending.
First elected in a special election in 2017, he won three full terms before resigning from office about four months after the suspension of his law license.
According to court records, Pendarvis is slated to appear in federal court on Nov. 18.
___
Meg Kinnard can be reached at http://x.com/MegKinnardAP
Powerball, Mega Millions jackpots: What to know in case you win
Here’s what to know in case you win the Powerball or Mega Millions jackpot.
Just the FAQs, USA TODAY
The South Carolina Education Lottery offers several draw games for those aiming to win big. Here’s a look at Nov. 4, 2025, results for each game:
Winning Mega Millions numbers from Nov. 4 drawing
11-14-17-50-57, Mega Ball: 06
Check Mega Millions payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Pick 3 Plus FIREBALL numbers from Nov. 4 drawing
Midday: 3-0-5, FB: 5
Evening: 9-3-4, FB: 9
Check Pick 3 Plus FIREBALL payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Pick 4 Plus FIREBALL numbers from Nov. 4 drawing
Midday: 0-0-4-2, FB: 5
Evening: 2-8-1-0, FB: 9
Check Pick 4 Plus FIREBALL payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Cash Pop numbers from Nov. 4 drawing
Midday: 12
Evening: 01
Check Cash Pop payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Palmetto Cash 5 numbers from Nov. 4 drawing
06-10-16-31-35
Check Palmetto Cash 5 payouts and previous drawings here.
Feeling lucky? Explore the latest lottery news & results
Are you a winner? Here’s how to claim your lottery prize
The South Carolina Education Lottery provides multiple ways to claim prizes, depending on the amount won:
For prizes up to $500, you can redeem your winnings directly at any authorized South Carolina Education Lottery retailer. Simply present your signed winning ticket at the retailer for an immediate payout.
Winnings $501 to $100,000, may be redeemed by mailing your signed winning ticket along with a completed claim form and a copy of a government-issued photo ID to the South Carolina Education Lottery Claims Center. For security, keep copies of your documents and use registered mail to ensure the safe arrival of your ticket.
SC Education Lottery
P.O. Box 11039
Columbia, SC 29211-1039
For large winnings above $100,000, claims must be made in person at the South Carolina Education Lottery Headquarters in Columbia. To claim, bring your signed winning ticket, a completed claim form, a government-issued photo ID, and your Social Security card for identity verification. Winners of large prizes may also set up an Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) for convenient direct deposit of winnings.
Columbia Claims Center
1303 Assembly Street
Columbia, SC 29201
Claim Deadline: All prizes must be claimed within 180 days of the draw date for draw games.
For more details and to access the claim form, visit the South Carolina Lottery claim page.
When are the South Carolina Lottery drawings held?
- Powerball: 10:59 p.m. ET on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday.
- Mega Millions: 11 p.m. ET on Tuesday and Friday.
- Pick 3: Daily at 12:59 p.m. (Midday) and 6:59 p.m. (Evening).
- Pick 4: Daily at 12:59 p.m. (Midday) and 6:59 p.m. (Evening).
- Cash Pop: Daily at 12:59 p.m. (Midday) and 6:59 p.m. (Evening).
- Palmetto Cash 5: 6:59 p.m. ET daily.
This results page was generated automatically using information from TinBu and a template written and reviewed by a South Carolina editor. You can send feedback using this form.
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