South Carolina guard Tessa Johnson, right, drives to the basket against Penn State guard Kiyomi McMiller, left, during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game in Columbia, S.C., Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Nell Redmond)

COLUMBIA, S.C. — The Penn State women’s basketball team fell to 6-4 on Sunday, losing 95-55 at No. 3 South Carolina in a women’s collegiate matchup.

The Gamecocks (10-1) was led by Joyce Edwards, who had a career-high 29 points and four blocked shots.

South Carolina had just eight players and were missing 6-foot-6 starter Madina Okot and reserve freshman Agot Makeer. But behind Edwards scoring inside, South Carolina started 19-3 after the break to take control over the Lady Lions

Sophomore guard Kiyomi McMiller led Penn State in scoring, posting 22 points marking her 10th-straight game reaching the double-digit mark. Freshman teammate Shayla Smith recorded her second consecutive game with double figure scoring with 13 points in addition to nine rebounds.

South Carolina announced a short time before tipoff that leading rebounder and shot blocker Okot and bench player Makeer would miss the game. Okot, who’s averaged 14.8 points and 11.1 rebounds, had started the first 10 games before missing this one against the Lady Lions.

Okot leads the country with seven games with double figures in points and rebounds.

The Lady Lions out-rebounded the Gamecocks 51-43. Redshirt junior Gracie Merkle, who averages 22 points per game, grabbed nine rebounds to go with nine points.

Penn State is back at it this Saturday when it plays VCU in Richmond, Virginia at The Culture Holiday Hoops Classic.

PENN STATE (6-4): Merkle 4-6 1-2 9, Cleante 1-5 0-0 3, McMiller 9-27 2-4 22, Murray 1-11 0-0 3, Smith 6-13 1-4 13, Evans 1-4 0-0 2, Okokoh 0-2 0-0 0, McFadden 0-0 0-0 0, Ranisavljevic 0-0 0-0 0, Santana 1-2 0-0 3, Steele 0-3 0-0 0, Totals 23-73 4-10 55

SOUTH CAROLINA (10-1): Edwards 13-20 2-6 29, Tac 1-3 0-2 2, Raven Johnson 6-8 2-2 15, Tessa Johnson 6-15 2-4 15, Latson 5-14 7-7 18, Dauda 1-2 1-4 3, McDaniel 3-6 1-3 9, McDowell 2-5 0-0 4, Totals 37-73 15-28 95

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Penn State 14 20 9 12 — 55

South Carolina 26 20 29 20 — 95

3-Point Goals–Penn St. 5-26 (Cleante 1-4, McMiller 2-6, Murray 1-9, Smith 0-3, Santana 1-2, Steele 0-2), South Carolina 6-21 (Edwards 1-1, R.Johnson 1-3, T.Johnson 1-5, Latson 1-7, McDaniel 2-3, McDowell 0-2). Assists–Penn St. 10 (McMiller 3), South Carolina 20 (Latson 8). Fouled Out–Penn St. Merkle. Rebounds–Penn St. 51 (Merkle 9, Smith 9), South Carolina 43 (R.Johnson 7). Total Fouls–Penn St. 20, South Carolina 10. Technical Fouls–None. A–15,601.

Flash remain winless

CINCINNATI — The Saint Francis women’s basketball team dropped to 0-9 on Saturday, losing to Xavier, 63-51, at the Cinatas Center.

Aleah James led the Red Flash with a season-high 22 points. Teammate Shelby Ricks provided a spark off the bench, knocking down a season-high 16 points. Bati Assefa recorded double digit in rebounds with 12.

Xavier, up 27-17 at halftime, put the game away with a 22-9 showing in the third quarter. Mariyah Noel led the Lady Musketeers (8-3) with 16 points and 10 rebounds to go with 12 points from Meri Kanerva.

Saint Francis will return to action at Pittsburgh on Thursday. Game time is 6 p.m.

ST. FRANCIS (0-9): Hawthorne 2-9 0-0 5, Sato 1-8 0-0 3, Assefa 2-5 0-0 5, James 10-16 0-0 22, Ward 0-2 0-0 0, Ricks 5-9 4-4 16, Walker 0-3 0-0 0, Totals 20-52 4-4 51

XAVIER (8-3): Oborilova 3-8 0-0 8, Givens 4-7 0-0 8, Kanerva 5-8 0-0 12, Noel 5-15 4-4 16, White 2-6 2-4 6, Dieng 0-1 0-0 0, Neves 0-3 0-0 0, Holmes 0-1 0-0 0, Martinez Lopez 0-1 0-0 0, Nejaamia 4-8 1-2 9, Young 2-6 0-0 4, Totals 25-64 7-10 63

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Saint Francis 11 6 9 25 — 51

Xavier 16 11 22 14 — 63

3-Point Goals–SFU 7-21 (Hawthorne 1-4, Sato 1-4, Assefa 1-4, James 2-3, Ward 0-1, Ricks 2-3, Walker 0-2), Xavier 6-21 (Oborilova 2-5, Givens 0-1, Kanerva 2-4, Noel 2-3, Neves 0-1, Nejaamia 0-3, Young 0-4). Assists–SFU 14 (Ward 4), Xavier 18 (Kanerva 4, Nejaamia 4). Fouled Out–None. Rebounds–SFU 35 (Assefa 12), Xavier 34 (Noel 10). Total Fouls–SFU 15, Xavier 15. Technical Fouls–None. A–910.

Win streak ended

The Penn State Altoona women’s basketball team had its four-game winning streak ended on Saturday, losing 70-64 in an Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference game at home to Penn State Behrend inside the Adler Arena.

PSU Altoona (6-3, AMCC 1-1), which trailed by as many as 13 points in the game, got 21 points, seven rebounds and three assists from Lanie Wilt to go along with 14 points and 11 rebounds from Avana Sayles.

PSU Behrend (6-4, AMCC 3-1) led all scorers with 28 points while teammate Lilly Palladino added 16 points and 11 rebounds.

Penn State Altoona is at Waynesburg this Saturday for a 1 p.m. game.