Same ol’ star: Mitchell sparks Gamecocks in final regular season game

It was good-natured chirping. Tiffany Mitchell stroked a 3-pointer, and an LSU player she knows was ribbing her about it.

“Just friendly competition,” she described.

Hate to see how she treats her enemies.

Mitchell finished her final regular season with a season-high 24 points, unleashing every part of her offensive arsenal on the hapless Tigers and pushing her name further into the South Carolina history books. Already a two-time SEC Player of the Year and All-American, Mitchell is now USC’s fifth career-leading scorer, passing Schonna Banner (1987-90).

She led a team that claimed the second 16-0 season in SEC history and is USC’s winningest senior class, but wasn’t talking about past accolades. As she has throughout her career, every award and triumph was met with indifference – that’s nice, but there’s so much more to get.

She has one last shot at the ultimate prize.

“We accomplished one of our goals for the season, but like (USC coach Dawn Staley) said, we’re not done at all,” Mitchell said. “We still have a lot more that we want to accomplish, and that’s winning another tournament championship and getting to the Final Four again.”

The Gamecocks head to Jacksonville, Fla., this week for the SEC tournament, and begin the NCAA tournament in two weeks. They’ll start with two games in Columbia, giving Mitchell another two games to thank her fans.

Mitchell was the last of USC’s five seniors to be introduced before the game Sunday. The applause was loud and lengthy for all, but the noise for Mitchell certainly challenged the decibel levels.

It got louder after she ended her day the same way she began, with a 3-pointer. With the game in hand, Staley removed her seniors one-by-one, again saving Mitchell for last.

Businesslike to the end, Mitchell checked out and high-fived her coach, walking past before Staley re-corralled her for an embrace. She received several more as she worked down the line, her teammates thanking her for what she did.

From committing as a high school junior during a WNIT year to playing magnificently for four seasons, it’s been quite a journey. Mitchell thanked everyone who made it possible.

“Lot of emotions. I was trying to perform as best as I could for them,” she said. “It’s a credit to where the program came from and to be able to do it on our home court means even more. To be able to celebrate this moment with them.”

This story was originally published February 28, 2016 at 9:45 PM.