Business as usual: South Carolina WBB cruises past Texas, wins 2025 SEC championship
The old adage in sports is that defense wins championships. South Carolina proved that still rings true.
The No. 1-seeded Gamecocks left Bon Secours Wellness Arena on Sunday afternoon as champions after beating No. 2 Texas 64-45 in the SEC Tournament title game.
South Carolina was led by Chloe Kitts (15 points), Tessa Johnson (14), Joyce Edwards (11) and Sania Feagin (11).
Texas’ 45 points tied for the fewest ever scored in an SEC women’s title game.
USC will enter the NCAA Tournament at 30-3 and on a seven-game winning streak. Selection Sunday for the NCAAs is March 16.
That’s nine!
With the win Sunday, South Carolina now has nine SEC Tournament championships to its name. All nine of those have come under coach Dawn Staley.
USC has won nine of the last 11 SEC titles and has won the last three in a row.
The Gamecocks entered the 2024-25 season with a mountain of expectations after going undefeated last season and winning a national championship. South Carolina faced challenge after challenge in the SEC this year and ended the year as regular-season co-champions after finishing 15-1 in the conference play.
A coin toss broke the tie between South Carolina and Texas, who split the regular season series, for the No. 1 seed in the SEC Tournament. The Gamecocks blew by the No. 1 overall team in the country on Sunday to deny the Longhorns a league tournament title in their first year as a member of the SEC.
“It was personal and we knew that we wanted to get our lick back,” Te-Hina Paopao told The State. “We knew that we didn’t win against Texas at Texas and that we just came up short. We knew that we wanted to get our win tonight.”
Second quarter push
South Carolina put on a clinic in the second quarter Sunday. Staley’s squad caught fire on offense while also keeping one of the best offenses in the country under wraps.
After trailing 12-10 at the conclusion of the first quarter, it took Texas almost the entirety of the second quarter to get a shot to fall.
South Carolina started the second quarter on a 15-0 run that wasn’t snapped until Texas’ Rori Harmon made a jumper with 3:29 left on the clock. The Gamecocks forced Vic Schaefer to call two timeouts during the run.
USC ultimately out scored Texas 21-6 in the second quarter. Texas scored 16 points in the first half, setting a new low for first-half points in the SEC Tournament championship game.
South Carolina forced six turnovers in the second quarter and 11 in the entire first half. The Gamecocks defense held Texas to a 25% shooting clip from the field in the second quarter.
The outburst built plenty of cushion on the scoreboard for the Gamecocks, who took a 33-16 lead into halftime.
Defense, defense, defense!
Texas entered the game with the No. 13 offense in the country and averaged 80 points per game. The Longhorns’ 45 points were a new season low for the program.
The previous low? When Texas scored 50 in Colonial Life Arena during a loss to South Carolina.
One of the most notable accomplishments of the Gamecocks’ defensive effort was limiting Madison Booker’s impact on the game.
Booker, who was named SEC Player of the Year earlier this week, scored just 10 points in the game. She was averaging 16.4 points per game and scored 25 and 19 points in her two previous SEC Tournament games this week.
Booker was 4 of 13 from the field.
“I think (the coaching staff) had a great scout plan for this team,” Raven Johnson told The State. “We didn’t want to feel what we felt the last game when we played them and lost. I think we all did a heck of a job on Madison Booker.”
South Carolina limited Texas to a 29.6% shooting clip on the afternoon. The Longhorns ranked No. 19 in the country with a team shooting percentage of 46.5%.
USC forced Texas to turn the ball over 18 times on Sunday and recorded eight steals.
How to watch NCAA women’s Selection Sunday
- What: 2025 NCAA women’s basketball bracket reveal
- When: 8 p.m. next Sunday, March 16
- TV: ESPN
- Stream: via ESPN.com or the ESPN app
This story was originally published March 9, 2025 at 5:00 PM.
