In and out, and on to Tobacco Road.

No. 1 South Carolina women’s basketball took care of business in its final game of a four-game homestand, clobbering overmatched Mississippi Valley State 101-19 at Colonial Life Arena for its program-record tying 45th consecutive home win.

It was far from a masterpiece early for South Carolina (5-0), with six turnovers and eight missed layups in the first half alone, but ended up being both the largest margin of victory and the fewest points allowed for any game throughout the entirety of the 16-year Dawn Staley era.

Mississippi Valley State (1-5) continued its non-conference gauntlet after losing by 59 and 62 to Utah and LSU respectively in another difficult environment as the Gamecocks seized control before the first media timeout.

South Carolina went on six different runs throughout the game of at least 10+ points, starting with a 15-0 first quarter jaunt that took a game still in its infancy with a 5-4 score out to a 20-4 advantage for the home team. Raven Johnson scored nearly half the points in the run by herself with seven, the start of a day where South Carolina’s sophomore star filled up the stat sheet.

"I think Raven has grown up," Staley said. "She's grown and matured to the point where she knows when she can take some chances. She's always been one to put heat on the other team's point guard, picking them up full court."

Johnson finished the game with 12 points, a career-high tying five steals, eight rebounds and five assists in a do-it-all performance that even included one funny moment, as she briefly appeared to pick up an injury after getting hit coming across a screen early in the third quarter.

It looked like an issue, before Johnson popped up laughing and went on a personal 5-0 run less than two minutes later to loudly declare she was fine to everyone.

"I knew I wasn't hurt," Johnson laughed. "I'm a very dramatic person. But, let me tell you, that screen hurt. She hit me in my thigh, and it hurt."

Te-Hina Paopao returned to the starting lineup after a one game absence with an ankle injury and immediately illustrated what the Gamecocks missed on Monday when they won despite going 0-of-12 from 3-point range. Paopao knocked down her first two attempts of the game and did not feature with a heavy workload in her first game back — just 21 minutes — but scored 10 points and kept the offense on schedule early.

"It felt great to be back out there with the team," Paopao said. "No discomfort, no soreness. We have a great athletic trainer and staff to help me get back to where I am today, so very thankful for them."

Kamilla Cardoso and Chloe Kitts clocked in with double-digit scoring performances from starting roles, and the bench took over from there playing almost the entirety of the second half. A full bench group of MiLaysia fulwiley, Sahnya Jah, Sania Feagin, Ashlyn Watkins and Sakima Walker played the entire fourth quarter outside 44 seconds, and won the quarter 24-3 to put an exclamation point on the historic afternoon.

After winning four straight home games by an average of 51.6 points, the Gamecocks will have six days before they play again on the front end of the Tobacco Road trip at No. 18 North Carolina.

"I think we're getting a little bit better practicing," Staley said about her team's big picture status. "I think they're listening a little bit more, and I think they're locked into each other a lot more. I think they're a closer unit, and I do think they're holding each other accountable. There's things being said that when they're not doing the right things you'll hear them self-correcting, and that's a good thing."

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