COLUMBIA, S.C. - Charleston Southern struggled from the floor in their opening night action against #22/#21 South Carolina on Friday night as the Buccaneers opened up the 2013-14 women's basketball season on the road at Colonial Life Arena, falling 99-29.

The Buccaneers were led by nine points by Alyssa Mann in the contest, while Erin Bratcher connected on a pair of three-pointers in the contest to pace the CSU offense as Charleston Southern fell to the Gamecocks.

Charleston Southern opens up their 2013-14 home schedule on Tuesday evening as the Bucs host Southern Wesleyan inside the Buc Dome, with tipoff scheduled at 7 p.m.

Mann and Bratcher combined for 17 points in the contest as CSU hit 18.5 percent of their shots from the floor, but the duo did pace the Buccaneers at the free throw line in hitting 83.3 percent of their attempts from the charity stripe. Monique Maximilien, Bratcher and Alise Karlsone all had three rebounds to pace the Bucs on the boards, while Maximilien had a career-high four blocks in the paint on the night.

Alaina Coates led four players in double-digits for South Carolina with 20 points in the game, hitting nine of 14 shots from the floor as the Gamecocks connected on a 60.9 percent clip in the game. Elem Ibiam added 17 poitns and five blocks, while Aleighsa Welch had 15 points and eight rebounds to lead USC. Tiffany Mitchell (12 points) and Khadijah Sessions (10 points) closed out the top scorers in the game for the host team.

The Gamecocks raced out to a 16-0 lead in the first half and did not look back in building the 52-13 halftime advantage. Mann scored the opening points for the Bucs in the game, connecting on three free throws after getting fouled on the three-point attempt, and connected on a jump shot at the 10:27 mark to put the score at 22-5.

Bratcher and Christal Barnett both added triples in the first half, while Marley Brown connected on a jumper in the final minute of the half for the Bucs offense in the period.

The second half saw the Gamecocks extend their lead as the Buccaneers were unable to mount a comeback attempt over the final 20 minutes in closing out the contest.