Winning ugly is a skill, and one No. 1 South Carolina women’s basketball has not had to dust out in awhile.

But in a choppy, brutal, at times rugby-resembling first half, South Carolina found a way to escape with a nine-point lead against a very game Ole Miss squad. Another 20 minutes later, South Carolina emerged with an 85-56 victory to take a stranglehold on the SEC regular season race.

South Carolina (21-0, 9-0) is now three full games clear of everyone in the league except Tennessee, and owns tiebreakers over LSU and Tennessee in the race for a fourth straight regular season title. It was anything but straightforward during one of the toughest patches of basketball Dawn Staley’s still-perfect team has played all year.

An almost unwatchable first quarter which featured 15 combined fouls, 10 combined turnovers and just nine total made field goals saw Ole Miss (16-6, 6-3 SEC) stick to its bread-and-butter as one of the SEC’s best defensive teams, and largely frustrate the home side.

Frontcourt foul trouble caused headaches for Staley almost immediately when Kamilla Cardoso picked up two fouls in just over three minutes. But it went from bad to worse when Ashlyn Watkins and Sania Feagin also reached two fouls just a minute into the second quarter.

Chloe Kitts had to pick up significant minutes in her first game back from a brief illness-induced absence. At one point Bree Hall was playing at the four in an uber-small lineup as Staley desperately tried to soak up the front court minutes, and Ole MIss had the game within a point late in the half.

But an 8-0 run closed the first half, and South Carolina never looked back.

Tessa Johnson knocked down a crucial 3-pointer off a Hall hustle offensive rebound, and MiLaysia Fulwiley exploded to the basket for a backbreaking buzzer-beating layup. Kamilla Cardoso found fire for one brief third quarter pocket with 10 points in just 3:20 to extend the advantage as far as 15, essentially a knockout punch on an opponent without enough scoring prowess to be equipped for a comeback.

Cardoso led the day with 17 points, and the trio of Fulwiley, Watkins, Hall, Feagin and Te-Hina Paopao all found double-digits to supplement the Brazillian forward. Watkins secured her 10th rebound of the game with 3:45 to go, clinching a second double-double in as many starts.

The Gamecocks are within eight games of another perfect regular season and will stay at home in conference play Thursday night against Missouri before dipping out of the SEC for a showdown with UConn next Sunday.

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