The No. 1 South Carolina Gamecocks are SEC tournament champions for the eighth time, though their 79–72 victory over the No. 8 LSU Tigers on Sunday in the tournament final at Greenville, S.C., wasn’t without controversy.
With just over two minutes left in the game, LSU guard Flau’jae Johnson could be seen elbowing South Carolina’s Ashlyn Watkins during a stoppage in play. After the contact from Johnson, chaos ensued as a shoving match broke out with players from both benches running onto the court. Among them was South Carolina center Kamilla Cardoso, who charged straight into Johnson, barreling her over onto the ground.
As a result of skirmish, referees ejected almost the entire benches of both teams. Six players received ejections: Cardoso, three South Carolina bench players and two LSU reserves.
