There will be a banner after all. South Carolina held off upset-minded Georgia 67-62 to win its second consecutive SEC Tournament.
South Carolina led by eight with less than four minutes to play, but Georgia didn’t go quietly. Javyn Nicholson scored, and then a highly suspect offensive foul gave the ball back to Georgia. Que Morrison, who was outstanding with 20 points, followed her own miss to cut the lead to four. Destanni Henderson and Morrison traded baskets, and down four with a minute to play, Georgia forced a South Carolina turnover.
But Tournament MVP Aliyah Boston made what may have been the play of the game. After the turnover, Boston stepped in front of Nicholson, who was trying to start the fast break. She made Nicholson hesitate, and that led to a travel, giving the ball back to South Carolina.
Georgia had to start fouling to prolong the game. Henderson, who finished with 18 points and tied her career-high with nine rebounds, made a pair of free throws after an intentional foul, but South Carolina turned the ball over on the ensuing inbounds. Mikayla Coombs couldn’t convert on the other end, and Boston went to the line. She missed both free throws, her only two misses in 12 attempts. Jenna Staiti made a free throw to cut the lead to five. After a timeout, Boston decided to ad lib. She got the inbounds pass, saw the lane open, and drove for a layup.
“(Staley) drew it up on the sideline,” Boston said. “We were kind of just getting it in and waiting for the foul, but I saw the lane and just said I’m going to go ahead.”
After a Coombs layup and free throw by Victaria Saxton, Morrison made a three to pull Georgia with one possession at 65-62. Boston got the inbounds pass and was fouled, and this time she didn’t miss.
“I missed the first two free throws,” Boston said. “It was sitting on my head. All of a sudden there I was again back to the free-throw line. I was like, okay, you’ve got to make these, can't miss these.”
Those free throws provided the final margin. Boston finished with 27 points (one off her career-high), 10 rebounds, and four blocks. For the tournament, she averaged 19.3 points, 11.3 rebounds, and 2.3 blocks while shooting 66% from the floor and 81% on free throws.
“My teammates did a great job of finding me the ball. I had to be strong with my finishes,” Boston said. “As the game went on it was easier.”
“Aliyah Boston was huge today. She has to be that dominant for us to win these types of games,” Dawn Staley said. “They single covered her. We’ve been chomping at the bit for single coverage and she made them pay.”
Fast starts carried South Carolina to wins in its first two tournament games, but that wasn’t the case Sunday. Georgia led much of the first half, with its largest lead of six coming on a first quarter buzzer-beater by Que Morrison. The lead changed hands four times in the second quarter, and Zia Cooke made her own buzzer-beater to send the game to halftime tied at 35.
A 9-0 South Carolina run to finish the third quarter proved to be the difference, and it was keyed by Brea Beal. She earned a free throw by running the court, and then ran the court again for a layup. Then Beal helped force a turnover and then drilled a pullup jumper to end the quarter. Beal only had seven points, but combined with four rebounds and three blocks and her usual stout defense, she made a huge difference.
South Carolina has now won six of the last seven SEC Tournaments, the most dominant stretch by any team in the tournament’s history. More importantly, after going just 4-3 to end the regular season and losing the regular season championship to Texas A&M in the process, South Carolina has created momentum heading into the NCAA tournament.
“Any time you can win this tournament, it gives you an extra boost,” Staley said. “I'm proud of our team for being able to fight through a stretch in the season in which it was a crossroads. It could have gone either way. We could have come into this tournament, lost very easily to a very good Alabama team, limped into the NCAA tournament. But when you beat a team like Alabama, when you beat a team like Tennessee, then you win your conference tournament championship against a team like Georgia, you got to feel good about it.”
“We knew we did not want to lose,” Boston said. “We knew this was a big game. Especially going into the tournament, this tournament would help us there.”
Notes:
The game was the first time two black head coaches, Dawn Staley and Joni Taylor, met for the SEC Tournament Championship. Staley and Taylor consider each other “extended family” because Taylor’s husband Darius is a former assistant coach under Staley. Sunday was also Taylor’s birthday. … South Carolina has won 14 straight over Georgia. … Cooke briefly left the court in the second half, but returned to the game. … LeLe Grissett was in a walking boot with crutches after the game. She appeared to injure her foot on a turnover early in the fourth quarter. … All but one of South Carolina’s fifteen fourth quarter points were scored by either Henderson (six) or Boston (eight). Victoria Saxton had the other point. … South Carolina outrebounded Georgia 40-31. … The Gamecocks had just five assists, with three by Henderson. It was the product of 25 free throws and lots of post up plays for Boston. … Both teams now await the NCAA tournament selection show on March 15 at 7:00 pm on ESPN.
