South Carolina started fast and then relied on its defense to hold off Kentucky and win the SEC regular season championship.
The 67-58 win, coupled with second-place Mississippi State’s 66-64 loss to Alabama gives South Carolina the regular season title. It is the fifth regular season title for South Carolina, and first since winning its fourth straight in 2017. South Carolina also won four straight SEC tournament championships, a run that ended in 2018.
The first time South Carolina and Kentucky played this season, South Carolina was able to turn the game into a track meet and Kentucky couldn’t keep up, losing 99-72. The first quarter was more of the same. South Carolina forced seven Kentucky turnovers and held the Wildcats scoreless for more than six minutes during a 17-0 run.
That run put the Gamecocks up 29-14, but the Wildcats stopped turning the ball over and were able to slow down the pace. A 9-0 Wildcat run cut the lead to single digits, and the Wildcats got as close as six several times. The Gamecocks scored the final four points of the quarter to take a ten-point halftime lead.
Zia Cooke took over in the third quarter, scoring nine of her team-high 20 points. She sparked a 9-1 run that put South Carolina up 17 late in the quarter, the largest lead of the game.
With Cooke providing the offense, Dawn Staley switched up the defense defense. South Carolina had been playing man, with Brea Beal or LeLe Grissett on Rhyne Howard, and had success with it (Grissett also had ten points in the first half). In the third, Staley switched to a box-and-one, with Destanni Henderson on Howard.
The tactic paid off. Howard got her points, finishing with a game-high 24, but she shot just 5-22. Up double digits throughout the fourth, until Howard hit a three with three seconds left, and with the clock on their side, the box-and-one helped shorten the game. South Carolina shot just 4-15 in the fourth quarter, but held Kentucky to 3-17 shooting and 29.6 percent for the game.
Cooke led four Gamecocks in double figure scoring. Grissett, Mikiah Herbert Harrigan, and Tyasha Harris each scored 10 points. Aliyah Boston had 11 rebounds and three blocks, but only six points.
Notes:
South Carolina wore its garnet uniforms for the fourth time. In the past, South Carolina has typically only worn garnet once or twice each season. … The game was Kentucky’s Play 4 Kay game. Staley wore her pink Play 4 Kay shoes and the Gamecocks wore pink accessories. Kentucky wore white uniforms with pink trim. … With two steals, Tyasha Harris entered the South Carolina top ten in career steals. … Harris had missed just two free throws total in SEC games this season. She missed three Sunday, going 4-7 from the line. The win was Dawn Staley’s 200th at South Carolina, and South Carolina’s 300th SEC win. … Kentucky did not get its first rebound of the second half until there were two second left in the third quarter. The second rebound came with 0.4 seconds left. … South Carolina went 0-5 from three. The Gamecocks had just one three in the first game against Kentucky and against Maryland.
