Addi Mack Drops 35, Maryland Nearly Erases 31 — No. 1 South Carolina Survives Paris 101–93

For a half, it was the coronation everyone expected. No. 1 South Carolina ran Maryland out of the gym in Paris, up 61–33 at the break and by 31 early in the third quarter of the Oui-Play season opener at Adidas Arena. Then Addi Mack decided the afternoon was not over.

The Maryland sophomore scored a career-high 35 points — 31 of them in the second half, 17 in the third quarter alone — and dragged the Terrapins all the way back to within six points in the final minute before South Carolina closed out a 101–93 win. The Gamecocks got the win they came to Paris for. Mack got everything else.

The first half belonged entirely to Dawn Staley's team. South Carolina put up 33 points in the first quarter and 28 more in the second, shooting 58 percent before the break while Maryland managed 14 and 19. Joyce Edwards was already rolling toward her team-high 23, and when the lead touched 31 early in the third, the game had the shape of a statement win.

Then Mack matched an entire No. 1 team by herself. She scored 17 points in the third quarter — exactly South Carolina's team total for the period — on 7-of-7 shooting, 3-of-3 from deep, per Maryland's official account. Maryland won the quarter 26–17, and a game that had been a rout walked into the fourth at 78–59 with the crowd smelling something.

Addi Mack just cooked the No. 1 team in the country 😤🔥
Maryland didn't get the win, but she put on a SHOW in Paris. Remember the name.
https://www.watchpreviously.com/sports/game/?lg=wcb&espn=401918849
#AddiMack #FearTheTurtle #Terps #NCAAW #WBB

— Previously (@WatchPreviously) November 2, 2026

The fourth quarter turned into a genuine finish. Jordyn Jackson's three cut it to 89–80 with 4:30 to play — the first single-digit margin since the opening minutes of the game. South Carolina answered with seven straight, capped by Agot Makeer's breakaway layup at 2:58, and at 96–80 the Gamecocks finally looked safe. They were not. Maryland ripped off 10 straight points to make it 96–90 with 42.3 seconds left, close enough that South Carolina had to finish the game at the line and in its half-court sets instead of in a victory lap. The final margin was eight, 101–93, and none of the last five minutes felt like an eight-point game.

South Carolina's depth is why the comeback stopped at six. Edwards finished with 23 points on 10-of-19 shooting, eight rebounds and four assists. Makeer's 20 was a career high — 8-of-10 from the floor, 4-of-4 from three in 25 minutes — breaking her previous best of 18. Jordan Lee added 13, and the Gamecocks also got Chloe Kitts and Ashlyn Watkins back on the floor for the first time since the 2024–25 season, a storyline that would have led almost any other recap of this game.

For Maryland, the box score behind Mack was thin — Oluchi Okananwa's 11 points, nine rebounds and four assists were the next line — and that is precisely the point of the afternoon. A sophomore who earned All-Big Ten honors as a freshman put up the game's biggest number, on opening day, against the No. 1 team in the country, on a neutral floor in Paris, in a game her team trailed by 31. She did it efficiently, too: 14-of-20 from the field, 6-of-10 from three, six assists against two turnovers in 33 minutes.

Maryland leaves Paris 0–1, and Brenda Frese's team will not pretend a loss is a trophy. But the Terrapins also leave with the single loudest individual performance of opening day, and with proof — against the standard of the sport — that their ceiling travels. South Carolina is 1–0 and still No. 1. Everybody in that arena, though, walked out talking about the guard in the black No. 3.

The full box score, every scoring run and the permanent game record live in this game's Game Center on Previously.