Pour it on: South Carolina WBB thumps Kentucky at SEC Tournament
The South Carolina women’s basketball team started its quest for another SEC Tournament championship with a win on Friday.
Dawn Staley and the top-seeded Gamecocks beat No. 9 seed Kentucky 87-64 in the SEC Tournament quarterfinals in Greenville.
With the win, South Carolina (30-2) will play in the semifinals game Saturday against either No. 4 seed LSU or No. 5 seed Oklahoma.
A successful rematch for the Gamecocks
This is South Carolina’s second win over Kentucky in the last week. The Gamecocks avoided an upset bid in Lexington on March 1 (a 60-56 victory).
Momentum swings were a big factor in the previous matchup, but South Carolina held most of that momentum on Friday.
The Gamecocks led for all but 1:35 of the game and had a 19-point lead at halftime. South Carolina built its lead up to as many as 26 points before beating Kentucky by 23.
So why was the March 1 so different?
“I think we were just ready to go home. It was last regular season [game],” South Carolina’s Raven Johnson said. “...(Today) everybody had a different mindset, and we came in ready to beat them.”
A big difference in the two respective matchups was Kentucky star forward Clara Strack’s production. Last week, Strack led all scorers with 24 points and added nine rebounds. On Friday, South Carolina was able to limit her productivity early and often. Strack scored just 11 points.
“She was tired. She was exhausted,” Kentucky head coach Kenny Brooks said of Strack. “Her opponent was sitting at home while she was playing 75 minutes. And, again, that’s on us. We put ourselves in that predicament where we had to be the No. 9 seed and we had to play for five games. ... I thought she played a little straight up today. They were able to push her off her mark a little bit. She was tired, extremely tired.”
The Gamecocks also found a consistent rhythm on offense this time around against Kentucky and were getting production from several players.
Jolt from Tournament Tessa creates separation
South Carolina junior Tessa Johnson broke out of a bit of a cold streak on Friday.
In the three games since a 21-point performance against LSU, Johnson averaged just six points per game and was 4-for-21 from 3-point range. For context, Johnson is averaging 13.1 points per game and a 44% clip from beyond the arc.
Despite recent struggles, Johnson — who has earned the nickname “Tournament Tessa” in her time with the Gamecocks — had no trouble finding the bottom of the net against Kentucky.
A 10-0 run, fueled entirely by points from Johnson, helped South Carolina build from a nine- to a 19-point lead in the second quarter. Johnson finished with 15 points and made three 3s in the game.
“Tessa has been in somewhat of a slump, as far as shooting the ball,” Staley said. “So it’s good to see her actually see the ball go in, especially those 3s. I thought she did a great job at mixing it up, driving it at the basket, pulling up, getting to the free-throw line because her skill set speaks to all of those things.”
Game MVP: Joyce Edwards
The Gamecocks star sophomore was flying around against Kentucky.
Edwards secured her 19th game with 20 or more points before the game had entered the fourth quarter. She had seven points in the first quarter, led all scorers with 12 points in the third quarter and finished with 21 points.
Edwards was also a valuable presence on the defensive end and played a big role in limiting Strack’s production for Kentucky. She logged four rebounds and two steals.
“I thought we made her feel a lot more comfortable. With knowing that, if you send her in a certain direction, we have your help,” Staley said of Edwards’ defense. “If you send her in another direction, we probably don’t have your help. So she was really good at just locking into where she knew her help spots were going to be and funneling Strack to those help spots.
“She wants to win. And she knew the best way for us to win the game is just kind of cut Strack’s production in half.”
Madina Okot’s play also deserves a mention. The senior center finished with her 21st double-double of the season (12 points, 13 rebounds).
SEC women’s basketball tournament scores, schedule
Friday/quarterfinals
No. 1 South Carolina 87, No. 9 Kentucky 64
No. 4 LSU 112, No. 5 Oklahoma 78
No. 7 Ole Miss 89, No. 2 Vanderbilt 78
No. 3 Texas 83, No. 11 Alabama 60
Saturday/Semifinals
South Carolina vs. LSU (4:30 p.m. on ESPN2)
Ole Miss vs. Texas (7 p.m. on ESPN2)
Sunday/Championship
Championship game, (3 p.m. on ESPN)
This story was originally published March 6, 2026 at 1:51 PM.
