South Carolina (12-1), off to the best start of a season in school history, held the Rattlerettes (3-6) without a point in the first 14:16 of the first half. FAMU's first point came at the foul line as Phaedra Mashburn converted two-of-two at 5:44 in the half.

The Lady Gamecocks jumped out to a 26-0 lead during the stretch and continued to pour it on. Carolina lead 41-8 at the break, and at one point enjoyed a lead of 56 points in the final stages of the game.

Jocelyn Penn lead all scorers with 22 points and grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds in 29 minutes to pace the USC effort. Shaun Gortman pitched in 16 points and 10 rebounds for her third double-double of the season. Of the 12 Lady Gamecocks who saw action, 11 scored at least two points.

No FAMU player reached double-figures as Mashburn and Deidra Bateman scored seven points apiece to lead the Rattlerettes.

"I'm excited for our players," said Carolina coach Susan Walvius. "They've come out and worked very hard. Defense has been the key to our team all year, and tonight was no exception. We did a nice job attacking their zone, and we should see some zone against Vanderbilt."

The USC defense, sharp all season as Walvius mentioned, was dominant as FAMU shot just 19.3% on the night and missed their first 20 shots from the floor. Carolina, meanwhile, was far more efficient on the offensive end, shooting 40% from the field.

The blowout win is nothing new for the Lady Gamecocks. Over Carolina's last five wins, USC has averaged a 37.6 margin of victory, some 20 points larger than its 17.6 season-long average margin of victory entering the FAMU contest.

Already 2-0 versus Top 20 teams with wins at No. 9 Duke (87-81) and No. 16 North Carolina (85-53), South Carolina hosts No. 3 Vanderbilt January 3 at 7:00 p.m. at the Carolina Coliseum for the SEC opener for both national powers.

Auburn 73, Texas-San Antonio 50
SAN DIEGO -- Auburn's 19th-ranked women's basketball team began each half on a 12-2 run on its way to a 73-50 victory over Texas-San Antonio on Sunday night in the consolation game of the Surf-n-Slam Hoop Classic hosted by the University of San Diego.

The Tigers, which ended their non-conference season with a 12-1 mark, led 17-4 six minutes into the game and never let UTSA (3-7, 2-1 Southland Conference) get any closer than 21 points, including leading 37-16 at the break.

Auburn shot 47.5 percent from the floor and held UTSA to 36.0 percent shooting from the field. Auburn also out rebounded the Roadrunners 41-27 led by Le'Coe Willingham's eight.

"We did the little things in the first half both offensively and defensively to get the job done," Auburn head coach Joe Ciampi said. "Our turnovers do bother me heading into the SEC and we need to get better in a few areas before next Sunday."

Auburn committed 20 turnovers, but collected 17 steals and forced UTSA into 23 turnovers. The Tigers also connected on 15 of 18 from the free throw line, including a perfect six of six by Willingham who finished the game with six points.

LaKeisha Johnson led the Tigers with 14 points and six rebounds, while Carol Smith added 11 points and Tia Miller chipped in 10 in the winning effort. Kim Reed led all scorers in the game with 18 points for UTSA, while Lacy Migee added 15 points.

Auburn will begin Southeastern Conference play Sunday when they host Florida at Beard-Eaves Memorial Coliseum at 2 p.m. CST.

Alabama 70, Villanova 61
VILLANOVA, Penn. -- The Alabama women's basketball team made it two for two in its December regular season tournaments earning its second consecutive tournament championship with an impressive 70-61 victory over Villanova on Sunday.

The Crimson Tide won its sixth straight game to improve to 10-3 in its non-conference slate. The loss dropped Villanova to 6-4. Alabama reached the championship game of all three of their in-season tournaments this season.

"It was a total team effort for us today," said UA head coach Rick Moody, who moved to within five victories of becoming the all-time winningest basketball coach at Alabama. "It says a great deal for this team to be able to beat a strong team like Villanova in the championship game of their tournament. We had to play solid on both ends of the floor in order to get this win. I think our depth and playing rotations are pretty well set as we look to start conference play."

Alabama got rolling early as the Tide jumped out to a 15-4 lead through the first 10 minutes of play. The Crimson Tide defense proved stingy as Villanova made just two field goals over the opening 15 minutes of action and finished the half with only six baskets from the floor.

Villanova stayed in the game thanks to a bundle of free throw attempts. The Wildcats hit 14 of 19 tries in the opening stanza. Alabama held a double-digit margin through much of the period but a late scoring drought of nearly four minutes proved costly as ‘Nova finally made some shots to trim Bama's lead to just four, 28-24, with 3:32 left.

The Tide answered with six straight points to regain the momentum but a three-pointer at the buzzer by VU's Kelly Nash sent the teams into the half with Bama holding a 37-30 lead.

Bama extended its lead early in the second half, but ‘Nova began to make some shots and battled back to within six points, 49-43, with 12:39 remaining. From that point, Alabama used a 10-0 run that included keeping the Wildcats scoreless for the next six minutes to take a comfortable lead that they would never relinquish.

UA maintained a double-figure lead over the closing minutes before a couple of late long range shots by Villanova trimmed the final margin to just nine at 70-61.

Tournament MVP LaNisha Cartwell led the Crimson Tide with 14 points and eight rebounds. Beth Vice, an all-tournament selection, also finished with 14 points while Shondra Johnson hauled down eight boards and handed out a team-best six assists. UA shot over 50 percent (51.1) from the field including an impressive 71.4 percent (5 of 7) from the three-point line. Bama also won the battle of the boards (38-31) and for the second straight game had more assists (14) then turnovers (10).

Kelly Nash led Villanova with a career-high 20 points including six three pointers with Courtney Mix chipping in 14 points in the loss.

Alabama returns to Tuscaloosa to begin preparation for the Southeastern Conference portion of its schedule. The Tide host Kentucky next Sunday at 2 p.m. in the SEC opener for both squads.

Ole Miss 105, Fairleigh Dickinson 46
PHILADELPHIA -- Freshman Amber Watts led Ole Miss to a, 105-46, win over Fairleigh Dickinson (5-4) with 20 points and 12 rebounds. Watts, who made 10-of13 shots from the field, recorded her first career double-double. With the win, Ole Miss (8-4) advances to play host Temple in Monday's championship game of the Temple University Classic.

Behind tough defense and hot shooting, Ole Miss opened the game with a 13-0 run and never looked back. Freshman Ally Kelly scored eight of the 13 points in the run. After the Lady Rebels' opening run, the closest the Knights would get was nine points at the 15:04 mark of the first half.

The Lady Rebels started the second half much as they did the first, scoring seven straigh-points before allowing the Knights to get on the board. The Ole Miss defense held FDU to just 16 second-half points.

Kelly finished the game with 18 points and senior Von Kirk and freshman Carletta Brown had 17 and 10 points, respectively.

Senior TaShondrea Moton recorded a career-high 14 rebounds to lead Ole Miss on the boards. The Lady Rebels out-rebounded the Knights 51-23. It was the third game in a row that Ole Miss out-rebounded an opponent by more than 20 rebounds.

Senior Sherika Wright dished out eight assists and added six points and three steals on the night. Brown also had four assists and three steals and Kelly added three assists and four steals. Tenisha Gist added nine points off the bench, while Kayla Madewell had eight points and six rebounds and Saundra Jackson chipped in eight points and seven rebounds. Both Watts and Jackson had three blocks.

Ole Miss made 22-of-42 shots from the field, good for 54.4 percent. They made 9-of-22 from three-point range and made 10-of-16 free throws. The Lady Rebels recorded a season-low 14 turnovers.

Fairleigh Dickinson shot 32.7 percent from the field, making just 17-of-52 baskets. They connected on 1-of-8 three-point shots and 11-of-16 free throws. The Knights committed 27 turnovers in the game.

Ole Miss will take on Temple in the championship game at 1:00 p.m. (CT). Temple is coached by two-time Olympic gold medalist Dawn Staley.