Destanni Henderson scored 22 points and Aliyah Boston added 20, including 10 in the third quarter to put 5th ranked South Carolina ahead to stay as the Gamecocks rallied for a 75-70 victory over No. 10 Kentucky on Sunday night.
The Gamecocks trailed 41-32 at halftime and 54-46 late in the third before closing the quarter with an 11-2 run, including 5 by Boston, for their first lead since the opening minutes.
Boston and Henderson then added 4 points each during an 12-2 spurt to open the 4th that helped withstand Kentucky's late rally.
Chasity Patterson scored 8 consecutive points to get Kentucky within 69-68. LeLe Grissett answered with a baseline drive and Boston made a layup before Zia Cooke sealed it with 2 free throws with 10.3 seconds remaining.
1st-place South Carolina (8-1, 3-0 Southeastern Conference) won its 5th in a row just days after postponing a game against Georgia because of a positive coronavirus test in the program.
Rhyne Howard had 32 points and Patterson and Dre'Una Edwards 12 each for the Wildcats (9-3, 2-2 SEC), who lost their 2nd consecutive game in a 4-game stretch against top 15 opponents.
The Gamecocks are set for a trip to Nashville to face Vanderbilt on Thursday. Tipoff is set for 8 p.m. ET with the game airing on SEC Network+.