COLUMBIA, SC — South Carolina women's basketball coach Dan Staley knows better than anyone how difficult it is to win in the Southeastern Conference.
These days, Staley and his Gamecocks hit another milestone to show they have few rivals in one of college basketball's toughest leagues.
Camila Cardoso had 16 points and 16 rebounds as No. 1 South Carolina beat Georgia 70-56 on Sunday to win its record 43rd SEC regular-season game.
The Gamecocks (25-0, 12-0 SEC) broke a mark at Tennessee and the late, great Pat Summitt accomplished with 42 straight SEC wins from January 1992 to January 1996.
“I'm proud of the past players and current players who put together some of the most historic stretches in this league,” Staley said. “It says it can be done because it's a tough league.”
Georgia and Javin Nicholson prove this. Nicholson had 27 points.
It was then that Cardoso and Camcox again insisted on taking control.
“I feel like we didn't get the run going defensively,” said Chloe Kidds, who scored 10 of her 12 points in the final two quarters. “At the end of the day, we stopped [Nicholson] We pulled away in the second half.”
Behind Cardoso, Te-Hina Paopao, Kitts and MiLaysia Fulwiley, South Carolina continues to be the nation's only undefeated Division I team.
Cardoso scored three straight points and Kitz scored six of his team's next eight points to pull within 40-39. Fulvili, a dynamic freshman, took over after that. Her basket put South Carolina ahead, and she followed with two foul shots and a spin through the lane that resulted in an easy basket by Ashlyn Watkins.
Georgia kept things within single digits until the final period, when Oregon's 3-pointer extended Papovoe's lead to 60-48.
The Bulldogs (11-14, 2-10) couldn't respond and suffered their 18th straight loss to the Gamecocks.
Nicholson broke his previous best of 24 points, set earlier this season against Ball State. He added 12 rebounds for his 14th double-double of the year.
Papovo had 15 points on five 3-pointers as South Carolina won its 55th straight game at home. It marked the fourth sellout this season at the 18,000-seat Colonial Life Arena and featured ESPN's College GameDay in the hour before tipoff.
Cardoso, a senior, notched his 12th double-double of the season and 28th of his career.
Nicholson and the Bulldogs went on a 17-2 spurt between the first and second quarters to build a 23-17 lead.
They led 37-28 after Nicholson made a pair of three-point plays and his opening shot of the third quarter before things fell apart.
