The No. 21 Tennessee women's basketball team upset No. 2 South Carolina 75-67 on Thursday, ending the Gamecocks' 31-game SEC winning streak.
It was the second-longest streak in conference history, behind Tennessee's 36-game streak in 2010-12. South Carolina's last loss to an SEC foe was against Arkansas in the quarterfinals of the 2019 SEC tournament on March 8, 2019.
"It's an amazing streak, and they've done it with discipline. There's a target on your back every night," Tennessee coach Kellie Harper said of the Gamecocks. "I'm proud of our team, and proud of our second-half effort, getting ourselves back in the game."
Tennessee trailed by as many as 16 points Thursday. The Lady Vols scored 50 points in the second half, the most the Gamecocks have allowed in any half this season.
"Tennessee just took it to us in the third and fourth quarters, and we had nothing or no one to stop it," South Carolina coach Dawn Staley said.
Tennessee had not beaten a team ranked in the top five since Dec. 10, 2017, when it defeated then-No. 2 Texas. It's the highest-ranked team that Harper, in her second season at Tennessee, has defeated in her time as Lady Vols head coach.
Tennessee ended an 11-game losing streak against AP top-10 teams, its longest such stretch over the past 30 seasons, according to ESPN Stats & Information research.
The Lady Vols had been through travel difficulties this week, as they were stranded a few days in Texas by bad weather after playing at Texas A&M on Sunday. Tennessee got back home to Knoxville on Tuesday night. The Lady Vols had lost their past two games, to Kentucky and Texas A&M
"I told the team before the game, this was our turning point in the season," said Tennessee senior Rennia Davis, who had all 24 of her points in the second half and also finished with 12 rebounds.
ESPN bracketologist Charlie Creme said Thursday's loss likely would not affect South Carolina's position as a projected No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament. But Creme said Tennessee's win likely elevates the Lady Vols a spot to a No. 3 seed, bumping fellow SEC team Georgia off that seed line.
Tennessee's next opponent is No. 22 Georgia on Sunday at noon ET on SEC Network.