Aleighsa Welch scored 13 points, Ieasia Walker added 12 and No. 18 South Carolina played its usual fierce defense to defeat Vanderbilt 64-48 Thursday night.
The Gamecocks (14-2, 2-1 Southeastern Conference), ranked third nationally in scoring defense at 47.4 points per game, held an opponent below 50 for the 12th time in 16 games.
Vanderbilt (12-4, 2-1), which had won nine straight, was averaging 71.9 points per game but shot just 26.5 percent (13 of 49).
After the Commodores took an early 7-4 lead, the Gamecocks outscored them 25-5 over the next 11:05 for a 29-12 lead. After that run, in which Welch had eight points, South Carolina's lead never dipped below 10.
Sancheon White had eight rebounds and three blocked shots for South Carolina.
Jasmine Lister and Heather Bowe scored 11 each for Vanderbilt and Christina Foggie had nine, giving the junior 1,004 career points.
