Great shooting by South Carolina — and poor shooting by Mississippi State — turned a close game into a blowout Sunday.

South Carolina shot 55.6 percent from the field in the second half, while State went 8-for-34 (23.5 percent), and the Gamecocks pulled away for a 69-43 victory.

South Carolina led by eight points at halftime, then outscored Mississippi State 39-21 in the second half. La’Keisha Sutton led the Gamecocks (17-5, 6-3 Southeastern Conference) with 17 points and Markeisha Grant scored 15. Grant hit three 3-pointers.

Porsha Porter led Mississippi State (13-8, 3-5) with 19 points and seven rebounds. No other Lady Bulldog scored more than six points.

“It goes back to effort,” MSU coach Sharon Fanning-Otis said. “But when adversity sets up, we need to bow up. We had too many turnovers and didn’t take the ball at them. We have to learn from this and grow, and get ready for our next ballgame.”