SEC spoiler: Kentucky rallies to topple No. 1 South Carolina for tournament title
No. 1 South Carolina women’s basketball will head back to Columbia without the 2022 SEC Women’s Basketball Tournament crown, falling 64-62 to the No. 7 seed Kentucky Wildcats on Sunday.
The Gamecocks (29-2) were unable to stave off a hot Kentucky squad, which came into the championship on a nine-game winning streak. The Wildcats (19-11) quieted any concerns about their energy levels, keeping pace with South Carolina throughout their fourth consecutive day of tournament action.
A strong fourth-quarter effort, outscoring the Gamecocks 21-7 in the game’s final 10 minutes, propelled Kentucky to the upset.
Kentucky was led in scoring by Dre’una Edwards, who contributed 27 points off the bench, and star Rhyne Howard, who added 18 points.
“Hats off to Kentucky,” USC head coach Dawn Staley said. “They’re hot. They’re streaking. We’ve been on both sides, this side and the other side, and super happy for (Kentucky head coach Kyra Elzy) and her program and their ability to weather some storms early on and find themselves as our SEC Tournament champions.”
The Gamecocks will know their seed in the NCAA Tournament field in one week during Selection Sunday on March 13. The show will be broadcast at 8 p.m. on ESPN.
Here’s what we learned.
South Carolina stalls out in fourth quarter
USC’s offensive lapse in the fourth quarter continued a trend from the semifinal round of this year’s conference tournament. South Carolina let off the gas late in its semifinal win over Ole Miss on Saturday, failing to score a field goal in that game’s final 10 minutes.
The Gamecocks allowed Kentucky to go on a 14-2 run over the game’s final 5:25, sealing the conference tournament victory.
“We’re not a bad basketball team, we just played two bad quarters at the worst time,” Staley said. “It’s the fact that we gave up 21 points in the fourth quarter. We’ve got to go back and see where our defense is failing us.”
South Carolina went 2 of 14 from the field in the fourth quarter against Kentucky, failing to keep the Wildcats from going 9 of 15 in the same period. The Gamecocks also went 2 of 4 from the free-throw line, with veteran guard Zia Cooke missing the last two attempts from the line with 16 seconds to go in the game.
Kentucky uses 3-point shooting to clinch victory
Edwards’ game-winning shot from the behind the arc shouldn’t come as a surprise to those who have watched the Wildcats through the SEC tournament, as they’ve used 3-point shooting to their benefit on their four-day streak in Nashville.
The Gamecocks eliminated the Wildcats’ offensive X-factor in the first half, quieting Kentucky’s dominance from behind the arc to just 1 of 6 in the game’s first 20 minutes.
The Wildcats scored eight 3-point shots in the first half of their tournament quarterfinals win over LSU and nine in their semifinal win over Tennessee. The Gamecocks kept the effort at a minimum, helping them take a nine-point lead over Kentucky into halftime.
But the Wildcats went with what they knew best in their championship-winning comeback, going 5 of 8 from behind the arc in the second half to spearhead their effort for the SEC tournament crown.
Zia Cooke, Aliyah Boston lead USC scoring effort
Aliyah Boston notched her 24th straight double-double Sunday, reaching the mark with 9:14 to go in the fourth quarter.
Boston finished the game with 21 points, 11 rebounds, three assists and two blocks. The Wildcats allowed Boston to have her way early, with the Gamecocks’ star scoring seven of South Carolina’s first 15 points.
Cooke scored 15 points behind her most efficient effort of the weekend.
The Gamecocks’ starting guard heated up on championship Sunday after failing to score in double figures in the previous two games. She dropped eight points on 3-of-9 shooting against Arkansas on Friday and three points on 1-of-8 shooting against Ole Miss on Saturday.
Destanni Henderson heated up from 3-point range in the second half, finishing the game with nine points, all on makes from behind the arc.
This story was originally published March 6, 2022 at 4:14 PM.
