This is still South Carolina.

No Ashlyn Watkins, no undefeated record like last year, any number of questions popping up at very points this season.

But this is still South Carolina, and Colonial Life Arena is still the toughest place to play in women’s basketball. Protecting home court in a top-5 showdown against Texas, the Gamecocks handed the Longhorns their first “Welcome to the SEC” moment with a 67-50 bludgeoning on national television.

Defense, as has been the case in seemingly every big win of the Dawn Staley era, won the day. In particular, the game plan on Texas (15-1, 3-1 SEC) superstar Madison Booker was perfect. Instead of switching off match-ups on her like previous battles with star scorers, the Gamecocks mostly turned senior guard Bree Hall loose on Booker.

And she answered the bell.

Booker entered the game averaging 15.3 points per game, but finished just 3-of-19 from the floor with seven points as South Carolina (17-1, 4-0 SEC) forced her into tough shots, made every catch difficult and almost completely kept her from driving into the paint. For all the Longhorns have, they do not have a great secondary scoring option. Shut down Booker, shut down Texas.

The Longhorns scored well under their previous season-low of 65 points, shooting 27.8 percent from the floor through a sea of white jerseys. It was an afternoon fraught from the start for Vic Schaefer’s squad, going 4-of-26 from the floor and scoring just nine points in the first quarter.

South Carolina did not need a vintage offensive performance with the success at the other end, but it found more than enough. Te-Hina Paopao and Chloe Kitts led a balanced attack with 11 points apiece, and Joyce Edwards scored another 10 to continue her streak of improving offensive play.

At times it even looked like the Gamecocks would completely run the Longhorns off the floor, extending the lead as large as 21 in the second half. A brief 9-2 spurt pulled the visitors back within 14, but that was the closest it got at any point in the second half in what was overall a comfortable, dominant performance in the most important game of the season to date.

Texas will get a chance for revenge on its home floor in exactly four weeks, but the gauntlet has been thrown down.

The SEC still runs through Columbia, South Carolina.

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