The SEC Notebook: South Carolina Fights Its Way to SEC Championship
The Gamecocks won their eighth SEC title in program history.
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GREENVILLE, S.C. — A fight. A 23-point comeback. A buzzer-beater. Red Panda. The SEC Tournament had it all.
But, when the buzzer sounded, all that remained on the floor were six South Carolina Gamecocks to receive the SEC championship trophy.
With 2:08 left in the championship game, Flau’jae Johnson committed an intentional foul on MiLaysia Fulwiley. Ashlyn Watkins then taunted Johnson, who responded by making contact. Kamilla Cardoso came in and pushed Johnson to the floor, causing the benches to clear.
Cardoso was ejected for fighting, which also comes with a suspension for the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Every player who left the bench for both teams was ejected, leaving just six players for AP No. 1 South Carolina and five for AP No. 8 LSU.
Up by seven, the Gamecocks finished the game off to win a second straight SEC championship. But with half of South Carolina’s roster sent to the locker room, the celebrations were significantly subdued.
“It’s bittersweet,” South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley said. “It really is. I want to be there for the players that were able to end the game and celebrate with them, but part of me wanted to be in the locker room to celebrate with the players who weren’t able to do that. But we put ourselves in that position. We made decisions that forced our hand to be in that situation.”
The celebrations were not subdued in the slightest after Saturday’s semifinal. The Gamecocks started the game on a 13-0 run and led by as many as 23 points early on. Tennessee came back to cut the lead to 13 at halftime, but everyone still thought the game was over.
The game was not over.
The Lady Vols came roaring back and tied the game at 65 with 4:18 to go, the first time the game was tied since before South Carolina made the first basket of the game. Tennessee took its first lead of the game with just 25 seconds remaining.
Raven Johnson missed a 3-pointer that would have put South Carolina back in the lead. Jasmine Powell got the rebound and was fouled. She had the opportunity to seal the game, but she missed both free throws.
Fulwiley got the rebound but was fouled by Tennessee, setting up an inbound play with 1.1 seconds left. Johnson was given the ball to inbound, and she faced no pressure from the Tennessee defense.
When Cardoso took the ball, she was originally supposed to pass it to Te-Hina Paopao. Paopao, who entered Saturday’s contest shooting a Division I-best 48.6 percent from beyond the arc, was a threat for the final shot, even if she was guarded.
Staley saw that Tennessee was leaving Cardoso room. It made sense, as Cardoso had not attempted a 3-point attempt in over three years. That attempt came in a game in 2020 during her freshman year at Syracuse, where Cardoso’s Orange fell by 24 to North Carolina.
Staley knew Cardoso could shoot. Even though it had never happened in a game before, Staley had seen it during practice.
“I yelled at Kamilla, said, shoot it,” Staley said. “I added some more words to that, but I can’t say it right here.”
Unlike in Carmichael Arena three years ago, Cardoso didn’t miss.
Immediately after the shot, the South Carolina bench came running over to celebrate. The next day, as the Gamecocks celebrated their eighth SEC Tournament win, Cardoso wasn’t a part of the festivities. She didn’t get her turn with a pair of scissors in her hand atop a ladder to cut down the net at Bon Secours Wellness Arena.
The honors remained. She was named to the All-Tournament team for her buzzer-beater against Tennessee and her solid 22 minutes of play against LSU. Votes were cast before chaos ensued, so the altercation had no impact on Cardoso’s position.
Rickea Jackson was also named to the All-Tournament team. She had two 22-point performances in the tournament, which included a 19-point second half in Tennessee’s comeback effort.
For LSU, Johnson and Angel Reese received All-Tournament honors. Johnson scored 25 points for the Tigers in their quarterfinal win over Auburn and 21 points against Ole Miss in the semifinals. Reese scored 15 points and brought down 13 rebounds in LSU’s loss to South Carolina while also earning double-doubles in the first two games of LSU’s tournament campaign.
Fulwiley was named the SEC Tournament MVP thanks largely to her championship performance. She scored 24 points in just 17 minutes, shooting 8-for-12 from the field. She added 13 points to South Carolina’s effort against Tennessee on Saturday.
Elsewhere in the tournament
Florida had one of the strongest performances of the tournament. The Gators won two games and came very close to beating Ole Miss. Aliyah Matharu carried Florida to its win over Vanderbilt, scoring 35 points for the Gators. She tried to do the same against the Rebels but suffered an injury during the fourth quarter.
“That’s exactly who she is,” Florida head coach Kelly Rae Finley said after the win over Vanderbilt. “She’s a fierce competitor. She’s the engine that makes us go. She wasn’t going to let us lose tonight.”
Texas A&M also had a good performance, defeating Mississippi State and only losing by 11 to South Carolina. Aicha Coulibaly scored 32 points for the Aggies in the losing effort. Even after the strong tournament performance, Her Hoop Stats bracketologist Megan Gauer projects Texas A&M
as the first team out, but Texas A&M head coach Joni Taylor thinks her squad belongs in the tournament field.
“I think we’re an NCAA team,” Texas A&M head coach Joni Taylor said. “We came here yesterday and competed well with the No. 1 team in the country.”
Currently, Gauer projects eight SEC teams to make the NCAA Tournament, with just South Carolina and LSU hosting. Ole Miss, Tennessee, Alabama and Auburn receive byes to the first round in Gauer’s bracket, with Mississippi State and Vanderbilt participating in the First Four.
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I'm not sure that I like the word "fight" in the title.
It sends the wrong message about these young, Black and Brown women.