30 for 30: Gamecocks crush Kentucky for 30th win, advance to SEC Championship

They said they felt like underdogs. They said they felt disrespected.

Kentucky said it was sorry, even though it wasn’t the Wildcats doing the talking.

South Carolina ferociously ran into the SEC tournament championship game with a 93-63 rout of the Wildcats on Saturday as the Gamecocks played their most complete game of the season. As fluid, unselfish and unstoppable on offense as USC was, its defense was so aggressive that Kentucky, which scored 92 points in a quarterfinal win over Florida on Thursday, shot close to 45 percent and still lost by 30.

It was USC’s 30^th win of the season and third over Kentucky, which had no idea of the hurricane that was building in the pre-game. Irked by some comments from the SEC Network – former Georgia coach Andy Landers was one analyst who called for a Wildcats win – the Gamecocks played nearly to the best of their ability.

They played to the very top of their emotion.

“We took offense to that. People really thought we were going to lose this game, so we just had to come out and show them we’re really not the team that they think we are,” said Tiffany Mitchell, who led USC with 20 points. “It’s hard to beat a team three times, but it’s even harder to beat us once.”

The Gamecocks were mean, nasty and the complete opposite of Friday when they stumbled through a quarterfinal win over Auburn. Whether it was words or the rivalry with the Wildcats, the Gamecocks were 180 degrees different.

Five players were in double figures, and the contributions came from everywhere. USC shot 73 percent before the first timeout and Asia Dozier had a career-high eight assists in the first half. Khadijah Sessions’ defense had Wildcat stars Makayla Epps and Janee Thompson flustered from tipoff.

Bianca Cuevas had 15 points and was 6-of-9 from the field in perhaps the best game of her career. The Gamecocks belted Kentucky with a season-high 12 3-pointers, and stole 10 balls with seven blocked shots.

USC had heard of how tough it is to beat a good team three times, and how well Kentucky had played since its last loss (to USC). The Gamecocks didn’t want to hear it, and there was only one way to prove it.

“I do think that was the best game we played this season,” said A’ja Wilson, who scored 18 with six rebounds and four blocks, also returning from a faceplant after a made basket and hard foul. “It’s just a rivalry game. You take a lot of heart in those games.”

The performance was so good that the concern became preserving it. USC still has a game to play this weekend – vs. Mississippi State on Sunday for the SEC championship.

“We came here to win an SEC tournament championship,” USC coach Dawn Staley said. “We’ll turn the page and we’ll focus in on that.”

TURNING POINT

Evelyn Akhator swished two free throws to cut USC’s third-quarter lead to 14 points, and the memory of the Wildcats’ Friday game against Florida lingered. Yes, the Gamecocks had been dominating much longer than the Gators did, but there was still plenty of time for the Wildcats to rally.

Cuevas bombed a 3-pointer. Then she stepped just inside the arc for a parabola of a jumper. Dozier stripped Akhator, missed a 3-pointer, Janee Thompson rebounded and passed to Akhator, who turned it over again.

Cuevas missed a 3, Wilson put it back in with the free throw. The lead was 21 and the Wildcats were warming up the bus.

3 POINTS

Star of the game: Sessions was leading the intensity from the tip. After sitting out the second half of Friday’s quarterfinal with a stomach bug, she was ready for the duty of guarding Epps and Thompson.

Sessions was fearless on offense, driving to the rim for fouls and making the smart passes, and her defense was magnificent. Sessions was a walking floor burn after the game from constantly diving on the floor or sticking her hands into Kentucky possessions.

It was Myrtle Beach attitude.

Play of the game: Cuevas’ jumper just inside the arc, which started the game-salting run, was perhaps the first such shot of her career. She’s been known for fast-break layups or 3-pointers, but she joined in the act of one of the Gamecocks’ best-ever shooting performances.

Stat of the game: The Wildcats had 19 turnovers. USC had 10 steals and seven blocks, while limiting them to eight offensive rebounds.

“Defense wins championships.”

FROM THE BASELINE

Don’t poke the bear: Epps, who has a “friendly rivalry” with Mitchell, jawed a bit at Mitchell after she was fouled on a three-point play. Mitchell didn’t say anything, didn’t glare; just set her face in that stern steel-jawed expression.

She scored 20, the final on a 3-pointer where she posed for a while after it, arm in the air and dancing a little. Yes, Epps scored 16, but Mitchell was on her like ants on a picnic throughout the game.

Stopper, please: The Gamecocks spoke of bottling this game up and taking it with them. That would come in handy. USC will need to be this mean and ornery for each game the rest of the season.

The team who gave them their only loss has a lot of that. It can be equaled.

No. 3 SOUTH CAROLINA 93, No. 13 KENTUCKY 63

KENTUCKY (23-7)

Camara 4-8 0-1 8, Thompson 1-4 2-2 5, Morris 3-7 0-0 7, Akhator 2-7 4-5 8, Epps 6-11 3-5 16, Jakubcova 0-1 0-0 0, Murray 3-7 0-0 6, Jennings 5-9 0-0 10, Rice 1-2 1-2 3. Totals 25-56 10-15 63.

SOUTH CAROLINA (30-1)

Sessions 3-7 2-2 10, Wilson 8-12 2-2 18, Mitchell 8-16 0-0 20, Dozier 0-5 0-0 0, Coates 6-10 1-2 13, Cuevas 6-9 0-0 15, Cliney 1-2 1-1 3, Roy 3-3 0-0 9, Imovbioh 2-5 1-4 5, White 0-1 0-3 0, Farmer 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 37-70 7-14 93.

3-Point Goals—Kentucky 3-7 (Thompson 1-1, Epps 1-2, Morris 1-3, Murray 0-1), South Carolina 12-22 (Mitchell 4-8, Roy 3-3, Cuevas 3-5, Sessions 2-3, Dozier 0-3). Fouled Out—None. Rebounds—Kentucky 29 (Epps 7), South Carolina 38 (Coates 10). Assists—Kentucky 12 (Epps 5), South Carolina 23 (Dozier 9). Total Fouls—Kentucky 13, South Carolina 14. A—NA.

This story was originally published March 5, 2016 at 7:01 PM.