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After one quarter, it looked like it would be a hard-fought SEC Tournament final between No. 1-seed South Carolina and No. 2-seed Texas.
But then, South Carolina went South Carolina, with the Gamecocks going on one of their signature game-breaking runs. The score was 12-10 in South Carolina’s favor at the end of the first. With just under four minutes left in the second period, it was 27-10, with the Gamecocks having held the Longhorns scoreless for almost seven minutes.
From there, it was all South Carolina, with the Gamecocks cruising to the program’s third-straight and ninth-overall SEC Tournament title, downing Texas 64-45. South Carolina is still the SEC standard.
Why the Gamecocks were so great
South Carolina succeeded in again causing trouble for Madison Booker, throwing multiple defenders at the SEC Player of the Year and holding her to only six first-half shots; she made just one for two points across the game’s first 20 minutes. No other player stepped up as a source of offense for the Longhorns, who also coughed up 11 turnovers through the first two quarters. They also didn’t earn a single free throw. The 16 first-half points for the Horns was, unsurprisingly, a season low.
The Gamecocks buzzed around the stuck-in-the-mud Longhorns, with the bench trio of MiLaysia Fulwiley, Joyce Edwards and Tessa Johnson providing extra juice on top of South Carolina’s solid starting five. The Gamecocks’ 16 first-half bench points matched the Longhorns’ team-wide total, while Chloe Kitts netted nine points before the break.
Halftime did little to slow South Carolina or spur Texas. Although the Longhorns found some points at the foul line, it was not enough to keep pace with the Gamecocks, as a buzzer-beating 3-pointer from Sania Feagin at the end of the third had South Carolina up by 19 points entering the fourth. In addition to South Carolina’s still swarming defense, Texas’ resistance to taking 3s, on top of continued struggles from Booker, who only scored a single point from the free throw line in the third, made a Longhorn comeback highly unlikely.
Nevertheless, Texas did not quit, using a 9-2 mid-quarter run to (somewhat) cut South Carolina’s margin as the game’s final minutes arrived. The Gamecocks, as they do, responded, snuffing out the Longhorns’ hope, stretching their lead to 20 points by the game’s final minute. The final score of 64-45 captures the Gamecocks’ three quarters of absolute dominance.
Kitts, the SEC Tournament MVP, finished the afternoon with a game-best 15 points and team-high nine boards. T. Johnson scored an efficient 14 points, while Feagin and Edwards each totaled 11 points.
Booker managed to fight her way to 10 points for Texas, as Rori Harmon and Taylor Jones both scored 14 points for the Longhorns, who are certain to lose their No. 1 national ranking and, possibly, fall from a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
South Carolina, in contrast, is a surefire No. 1 seed, looking like a true threat to take the national championship for the second-straight season.
