Two championships down and one to go for the Gamecocks.
No. 1 South Carolina (31-0) defeated Tennessee 74-58 on Sunday in the SEC tournament championship game. It was the seventh tournament crown the Gamecocks have earned under coach Dawn Staley.
Each team got out to a hot shooting start, shooting a combined 14-of-21 from the field at the first media timeout in the first quarter.
The Gamecocks stuck with their strong suit of attacking the paint, and they also got to the free throw line often. South Carolina finished the game shooting 20-of-24 from the free throw line.
Tennessee (23-11) was led by its duo of Rickea Jackson and Jordan Horston for most of the game. Both provided steady scoring but slowed down a bit after USC started to grow its lead.
“We just beared down and started playing like we normally play,” Staley said. “Putting possessions together where we’re scoring, getting stops.”
South Carolina began to run away from the Volunteers in the third quarter and held them to 11 points in the period.
Sophomore guard Bree Hall knocked down a 3-pointer in the third quarter to give USC a 15-point lead, and Tennessee couldn’t keep up from there.
“I definitely thought it was a turning point moment,” Hall said. “The crowd was going crazy.”
Aliyah Boston finished with 18 points and seven rebounds for the Gamecocks. She was named the MVP of the tournament.
South Carolina, which also won the SEC regular-season title, will learn its NCAA tournament path next week on Selection Sunday. The bracket reveal will be televised on March 12 at 8 p.m. on ESPN.
COOKE CONTROLS THE SCORING
Zia Cooke left her imprint on both sides of the ball in Sunday’s game.
She scored 24 points to notch her seventh 20-point scoring game of the season. Cooke shot 8-18 from the field.
Cooke’s shot wasn’t falling early on, but she picked up steam in the second quarter with 12 points in the period to help USC to a six-point half time lead.
The senior guard from Toledo, Ohio also added three steals to her total. She got some of her points after stripping the ball from Tennessee ball handlers and scoring open layups in transition.
“Defense is what gets me going,” Cooke said. “Sometimes I do get too focused on making shots. Any time my shot’s not falling, I try to find something else to do that can help me get to the point to make shots.”
Sunday’s game was the 15th time Cooke led the Gamecocks in scoring in a game this season.
SECURING THE SEC
South Carolina won both the SEC regular season and conference tournament in the same year for the fifth time in school history.
USC is one of six schools in the SEC to win both conference titles in the same year. Tennessee has done so the most with eight such seasons.
“Winning championships never gets old,” Staley said. “We often have to remind ourselves where we come from. We used to come to this tournament, and we’re out in one day. And then the season was over.”
Under Staley, the Gamecocks have dominated the SEC. No other SEC team has won a national championship since Staley won her first in 2017.
The team went undefeated in regular season conference play for the third time in program history, winning the conference tournament in each of those three seasons.
“You have your regular conference play, but when it comes to our SEC tournament anybody can beat anybody,” senior guard Brea Beal said. “That’s when teams are at their best.”
NCAA TOURNAMENT TIME
South Carolina is one of four projected No. 1 seeds in ESPN’s bracketology, and is also the nation’s top-ranked seed overall. The team has been placed in the Greenville 1 region.
The team would be one of 16 schools hosting the tournament’s opening weekend (first and second rounds). South Carolina was the No. 1 overall seed last year in its national championship run.
Tennessee entered the game as a projected No. 5 seed in the Greenville 2 region.
The Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight rounds will be held in Greenville and Seattle this season, and the Final Four will be held in Dallas.
NEXT FOR SOUTH CAROLINA WBB
— March 12: NCAA tournament’s Selection Sunday, 8 p.m (ESPN)
— March 15-16: First Four games
— March 17-20: NCAA tournament, first and second rounds
— March 24-27: Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight games
— March 31: Final Four
— April 2: National championship
