Chloe Kitts had 15 points and nine rebounds and No. 5 South Carolina completed its dominant run through the Southeastern Conference tournament with a 64-45 victory over No. 1 Texas in the championship game Sunday afternoon in Greenville, S.C.
Tessa Johnson added 14 points and Sania Feagin and Joyce Edwards scored 11 each for the top-seeded Gamecocks (30-3), who won their previous two games in the tournament by 21 and 18 points, respectively, and never trailed Sunday.
South Carolina won for the second time in three meetings this season against the No. 2 seed Longhorns (31-3), who had their 15-game winning streak snapped. The Gamecocks claimed their third consecutive SEC tournament title and fifth in six seasons while making a record sixth consecutive title game appearance.
“This year is different in that we’ve been challenged way more,” South Carolina coach Dawn Staley said on the SEC Network. “This team started out the season as the No. 1 team in the country and I don’t think they could handle the pressure of handling everybody’s best all the time.
“To be challenged the way we have been through our losses we’ve gotten better. They handled it like real champions.”
For Texas, Taylor Jones had 14 points and eight rebounds and Rori Harmon scored 14, but SEC player of the year Madison Booker had just three points through three quarters before finishing with 10 points and 10 rebounds.
“One quarter, one game certainly doesn’t define our season,” Texas coach Vic Schaefer said.
Texas didn’t score until nearly 3 1/2 minutes had elapsed and five Gamecocks contributed to a 12-10 lead at the end of the first quarter. Booker, who scored 18 of her 25 points in the first half of a semifinal win against LSU, missed all four of her shots and went scoreless in the first period.
South Carolina used balanced scoring and dominant defense to take command in the second quarter. Johnson scored five points, Kitts and MiLaysia Fulwiley scored three each and Feagin and Edwards had two each during a 15-0 run to start the period, producing a 17-point lead.
The Longhorns missed their first eight shots and turned the ball over four times before Harmon, who left the game briefly after being hit in the face, made a jumper for her team’s first points with 3:29 left in the period.
Booker made a jumper with 1:51 left for her only points of the half, but the Gamecocks wound up with a 21-6 scoring edge in the quarter and a 33-16 halftime lead. They maintained a comfortable lead throughout the second half.
“We knew we’d be able to beat them if we play good defense,” Kitts told ESPN postgame.
–Field Level Media