Top-ranked South Carolina felt something it hasn’t known in over 21/2 years.

That being the sting of defeat after being thoroughly dominated in a 77-62 loss to No. 5 UCLA in Los Angeles on Sunday.

Gone was the overall 43-game winning streak. Done was the run of 33 consecutive road victories. And the No. 1 ranking it’s held for 23 consecutive polls will disappear today.

“This is what we usually do to teams,” coach Dawn Staley said. “We were on the receiving end of it.”

South Carolina hadn’t lost since April 2023, when Caitlin Clark and Iowa beat the Gamecocks in the national semifinals of the NCAA Tournament.

The Bruins (5-0) shot 47% from the floor and 3-point range, hit 11 of 14 free throws and had five scorers in double figures.

The Gamecocks (5-1) were held to 36% shooting, had just two scorers in double figures and neither was leading scorer Chloe Kitts, who was held to 2 points on 1-of-7 shooting.

They never led, got beat on the boards 41-34 and were outscored 26-18 in the paint and 8-1 in fast-break points. They made only eight trips to the free-throw line.

“Our kids fought,” Staley said, “but we ran into a buzzsaw.”

South Carolina did manage to limit 6-foot-7 UCLA star Lauren Betts — who had 11 points and 14 rebounds —despite no longer having a dominant center of its own. The Bruins responded by getting the ball to others and eight of their 10 players scored.

The Gamecocks never got their offense in gear, starting the game 0 for 9 before trailing 20-10 at the end of the first quarter. They were down 43-22 at halftime.

Men

Stojakovic, Wilkinson key Cal win >> Andrej Stojakovic converted 11 of 15 from the free-throw line and scored 20 points as Cal held off a late rally to post an 83-77 win over Sacramento State in the Cal Classic tournament.

Cal came into its tournament without three starters, Jovan Blacksher Jr., DJ Campbell and BJ Omot and the Golden Bears earned back-to-back wins over Air Force and the Hornets. Against Sacramento State (1-4), Wilkinson came off the bench to score 16 points.