Sometimes, size matters, and South Carolina proved that tonight. 

They outrebounded Maryland 55 to 32, scored 40 points in the paint, and recorded 11 blocks en route to a comfortable 81-56 victory. 

“We just looked at it as another game. We knew that we were going to get their best game tonight. We understood that we needed to be poised. We needed to take the hit and just push through,” Aliyah Boston said after the game. 

The Terps never led in this game. 

“Yeah, I don’t know that we’re going be able to match that. Again, I think you have to have the heart and the hustle. We’re going to have to negate it with speed,” Coach Brenda Frese said when asked how they can handle teams with more size. 

The Gamecocks were more efficient from the field, shooting 44.1% to 30.3% for Maryland. 

Boston, Kamilla Cardoso, and Zia Cooke were all stand players for South Carolina. 

Boston, who many views as the presumptive first-overall pick in next year’s WNBA draft, scored 16 points and grabbed 13 rebounds.

Cardoso chipped in 13 points and five rebounds. 

Cooke led their scoring with 18 points along with three assists and two steals. 

Abby Meyers was the standout player on a rough night for Maryland. She finished with 21 points and six rebounds. 

“I’ve always been that offensive scorer. I know my role is to keep shooting no matter the outcome,” Meyers said. 

However, she only scored five points in the second half as South Carolina adjusted its defense to limit her. 

Shyanne Sellers looked lively on the offensive end late in the game and finished with nine points. 

With their star player Diamond Miller out, the Terps knew they would face a tough challenge against the No. 1 team in the nation and reigning NCAA champions. 

Maryland started the game playing with spirit defensively and frustrating the South Carolina stars. They kept the score close for much of the first quarter. 

Abby Meyers caught fire early for the Terps, scoring 9 points in the first quarter. 

Meyers had to carry the load offensively as the rest of the team struggled to make shots, especially from three-point range.

As the quarter went on, South Carolina started to show their superiority. 

The Gamecocks used their size to their advantage in the paint, both offensively and defensively. 

South Carolina dominated the boards all game allowing them to have second, third, and sometimes fourth chances on the offensive end. 

They outrebounded Maryland 30 to 19 in the first half. 

“Rebounding is what we do. That is who we are. It’s something that we work on every single day. That creates separation for us,” Gamecocks coach Dawn Staley said. 

Boston was especially dominant, causing the Terps to have to put two players to box her out at all times to keep her off the boards. 

She still finished the first half with 11 rebounds along with 10 points. 

Maryland played a 2-3 zone defensively and was willing to leave some of the weaker South Carolina three-point shooters open to maintain a strong defensive presence in the post. 

However, in the second quarter, the Gamecocks started to heat up from three. 

They made three from deep in the quarter and jumped out to a 27-14 point lead with 7:27 to go in the quarter, their largest lead of the half. 

From that point, the Terps fought back and ended the half on a four-point run to cut the lead to six.

The Terps went into the half down 32-26 but with some momentum. 

“I saw a lot of positive things to be able to see, especially in the first half. I can walk in at halftime six points down to the defending national champions, who, in my opinion, have a deeper roster than last year. I thought our kids did a great job executing the game plan,” Coach Brenda Frese said. 

Both teams started to light up the scoreboard in the third quarter. South Carolina especially found their stride, outscoring Maryland 30-17 in the quarter. 

“You saw the third quarter got away from us because of the depth they had, the size, and the experience,” Frese said. 

South Carolina resorted at times to chucking the ball into their twin towers, Boston and Cardoso, and over the heads of the Maryland players to try to get easy buckets in the paint. 

This was only semi-successful as the Terps packed the paint and played tough. 

With 3:11 left in the third quarter, Bri McDaniel got into an altercation with several South Carolina players. 

A lengthy review followed, and McDaniel, Cardoso, and Kierra Fletcher were all issued technical fouls. 

From that point, the Gamecocks went on a dominant run and never looked back. 

Boston, Cardoso, and Cooke all heated up as the second half went on, and South Carolina started to look like the reigning champs they are. 

They finished the game strong and defeated Maryland 81-56.