S.C. dominates Texas for 9th SEC title in 11 years

GREENVILLE, S.C. (AP) — South Carolina coach Dawn Staley thought winning this year’s SEC Championship would be much harder than any of the school’s previous titles after the league added Texas and Oklahoma to the mix.

But it didn’t look all that hard at all for the fifth-ranked Gamecocks.

Tournament MVP Chloe Kitts finished with 15 points and nine rebounds, Tessa Johnson added 14 points and South Carolina completed a dominant three-day run in Greenville by knocking off No. 1 and second-seeded Texas 64-45 on Sunday to win its third straight Southeastern Conference Tournament championship and ninth title in the last 11 years under Staley.

“They are young people that come down here and perform to a high standard every single time they step on the floor and for that I am super proud of them,” Staley said.

Sania Feagin and Joyce Edwards each had 11 points for the Gamecocks, who boldly staked their claim to a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

The Gamecocks won their three tournament games by 21, 18 and 19 points with the last two coming against newcomers No. 10 Oklahoma and Texas.

None of them looked prepared to handle South Carolina’s intensity.

South Carolina (30-3) never trailed and blew the game open with a 19-2 run to start the second quarter to build a 33-16 lead at the break behind a stifling defense. The lead ballooned to 21 early in the fourth quarter and the Gamecocks were never threatened again.

“I took two timeouts in the second quarter and we just could not stop (their momentum),” Texas coach Vic Schaefer said.

Staley improved to 5-0 against Schaefer in the SEC title games, although the previous four came when he coached at Mississippi State.

Kitts average 16.6 points and 7.6 rebounds per game during the tournament and shot 74% from the field, but the Gamecocks got contributions from several players as Staley rolled in one talented player after another.

But the team defense was key. The Gamecocks held All-American Madison Booker to 10 points on 4-of-13 shooting to snap Texas’ 15-game win streak and forced 18 turnovers. Taylor Jones and Rori Harmon led Longhorns (31-3) with 14 points each.

Said Harmon: “We have another big tournament ahead of us and we have to learn from our mistakes. … but this game will haunt us as a team.”

Schaefer said he still expects his team to be a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

“One quarter, one game certainly doesn’t define our season,” Schaefer said.

Takeaways

Texas: Turned the ball over 11 times in the first half and shot 30% for the game.

South Carolina: The Gamecocks improved to 18-1 in SEC Tournament games in Greenville, which is just a 90-minute drive from their home arena. The setting essentially served as a home game for the Gamecocks, who have one of strongest fan bases in women’s basketball. “It’s a road game. It is what it is,” Schaefer said. “To play them basically on their home floor makes it that much more difficult. If were were in San Antonio people might be yelling for us.”

Key moment

Feagin’s lob pass inside to Kitts led to an and-1 to start the second quarter, igniting a 15-0 run.

Key stat

South Carolina outscored its three SEC Tournament opponents 67-27 in the second quarter.

Up next

Both teams are expected to be No. 1 seeds in the NCAA Tournament.