Maybe the coin knew what it was doing. After South Carolina needed a coin flip to break a tie with Texas for the top seed in the SEC Tournament, the Gamecocks dominated the Longhorns 64-45 to win their ninth SEC Tournament title.
Texas entered the game as no. 1 team in the nation and presumed top overall seed in the NCAA Tournament. Madison Booker was the SEC Player of the Year, and Vic Schaefer was the Coach of the Year.
Texas ended South Carolina’s SEC-record 57-game SEC winning streak earlier in the season, earning a season split of the series. But South Carolina got the rubber match, giving the Gamecocks two dominating wins over Texas and the first win over a no. 1 ranked team in program history.
The Longhorns have struggled offensively for much of the past month, but the Gamecocks’ swarming, relentless defense brought Texas to new levels of futility. Texas tied the record for the fewest points scored in an SEC tournament championship game.
Vic Schaefer dropped to 0-5 against Dawn Staley in SEC tournament finals, 0-1 in the Elite Eight, and 0-1 in the national championship.
South Carolina started off slowly as well, but it was only a matter of time before the good looks started going in.
South Carolina held Texas scoreless for the first 6:31 of the second quarter. During that time, South Carolina’s lead ballooned from just two points to start the quarter to 17 points.
Texas missed eight consecutive shots and turned the ball over four times during the run.
South Carolina beat Texas at its own game, scoring 40 points in the paint while sprinkling in three-pointers to keep the defense honest.
Tournament MVP Chloe Kitts scored 15 points and grabbed nine rebounds before exiting to a standing ovation with 1:04 left.
Sania Feagin added 11 points and six rebounds, including a three-pointer at the third-quarter buzzer. Joyce Edwards also scored 11. “Tournament” Tessa Johnson added 14 points, including 2-3 from three, and played outstanding defense on Booker.
Texas beat South Carolina by dominating the glass in Austin, but South Carolina outrebounded the Longhorns by two on Sunday.
Despite missing part of the second quarter after getting elbowed in the face by a teammate, Rori Harmon was the only Longhorn who was able to consistently put the ball in the basket. She finished with 14 points.
Booker finished with 10 points and 10 rebounds, but seven of her points came in fourth quarter garbage time, and she was 1-7 with two turnovers in the first three quarters. She finished just 4-13.
Booker had seven points on 3-19 shooting in the first game. She got 20 points in the win in Austin but still shot just 7-22. She finished the season averaging 12.3 points on 14-54 (25.9%)
Kyla Oldacre averaged 12 points and 11 rebounds in the first two games but was held to just two points and two rebounds on Sunday.
Notes:
South Carolina entered the game 0-17 against no. 1 ranked teams. … LSU had 45 points in loss to Vanderbilt in 2007. … Texas shot just 29.6% and 1-8 from three. South Carolina shot 42.9% and 3-13 from three. … MiLaysia Fulwiley had just five points on 2-10 shooting but added three rebounds, two assists, and two steals. … Taylor Jones also had 14 points. … Dawn Staley’s outfit: Staley wore all black with a Gucci sweatshirt. … Announced attendance was 13,532. It set a new record for attendance for any SEC Tournament game.
This is a developing story. Stay with GamecockCentral for continuing coverage…
