TRIPLE CROWNED: USC women win third consecutive SEC Tournament title

She’s the one who got them there.

She’s the one who kept them there.

South Carolina rode an MVP performance from SEC Player of the Year A’ja Wilson to its third straight SEC tournament championship on Sunday 59-49. Trailing 45-40 with 10 minutes to go to a Mississippi State team that wouldn’t give anything easy to the Gamecocks, USC turned to the one player it knew could get it done.

“Just during the timeout, coach pointed at her chest. It means heart,” said Wilson, who scored seven of her 15 points, grabbed eight of her nine rebounds and blocked a shot in the fourth quarter. “That’s what it comes down to.

“In a championship game, it comes down to who wants it more.”

And for the third straight year, that was USC.

“A’ja Wilson is the best player in the country,” coach Dawn Staley said. “Let’s just get that out there.”

Wilson had had a quiet game, swallowed by 6-foot-7 Bulldog center Teaira McCowan, but the Gamecocks were kept in the game by 23 points from all-tournament selection Kaela Davis. Beginning the fourth quarter, USC could see the dream’s heartbeat dropping to a feeble murmur.

Wilson, with scarce protection in the paint because of Alaina Coates sitting out with an ankle injury, shocked her team back to life.

Davis opened the fourth with a 3-pointer and USC began finding its All-American. Wilson scored four straight from the line to complete an 8-0 lead-restoring run.

With the nearly all-garnet crowd at Bon Secours Wellness Arena on its feet, imploring the “home” team to pull it off, the Gamecocks’ defense tightened and the Bulldogs (29-4) couldn’t find any easy shots. Wilson was rebounding every miss and USC was plunging into the lane, using its speed to get past MSU’s transition defense and to the rim.

USC (27-4) eked ahead as the Bulldogs continued to miss, and then came USC’s moment. Ahead by a point with four minutes to go, freshman point guard Ty Harris tried to fire the ball inside and nearly had it tipped away. Doniyah Cliney saved it, whipped a pass back to Harris and with the shot clock inching toward zeroes, Harris let fly.

The pent-up roar from The Well as the shot bottomed could be heard in Columbia.

The Bulldogs scored four points in the fourth as USC waited for the horn. Davis, who has played five magnificent games after what she called her lowest point, cradled the ball after an MSU miss, then launched it into the blue, gold and white confetti that was spilling from the ceiling.

It wasn’t nearly as easy as USC made it look this year, with Staley mixing and matching lineups, and dealing with new starters, injured veterans and a couple of bad games. Yet, she again guided the Gamecocks to the regular-season championship, their fourth in a row, and capped it with a third consecutive tournament title in her own state.

“I think it’s only fitting. We have the best fans in the country,” Staley said. “They created an atmosphere like they do in our home arena, Colonial Life Arena.”

USC will wait for its NCAA tournament destination, which appears to be a No. 1 seed in Stockton, Calif. But the Gamecocks have until March 13 until it’s announced, so they’ll use the time to rest, heal and reflect.

That’s on how far they’ve come, and how far they have to go.

“Yeah, most definitely,” Wilson answered about the Gamecocks being a top contender in the NCAA tournament. “We showed a good picture of what we do, how we are here at South Carolina. So, yes, I do.”

This story was originally published March 5, 2017 at 4:52 PM with the headline "TRIPLE CROWNED: USC women win third consecutive SEC Tournament title."