South Carolina clinches third straight SEC women's basketball regular season title
Someone will put an end to South Carolina’s run of SEC regular season titles some day, but it won’t be this year. The Gamecocks defeated Kentucky in a 103-55 blowout on Sunday to clinch their third straight regular season conference championship.
Not only that, but it is also their eighth in the past 11 seasons.
It’s been another dominant season for Dawn Staley and South Carolina, which has won all but three of its games by double digits. The Gamecocks are on their way to another undefeated regular season, currently sitting at 27-0 (14-0 SEC).
South Carolina got off to scorching start in Sunday’s game and led 25-8 by the end of the first quarter. The Gamecocks never let their foot off the gas after that to finish the game 38-of-59 (64.4%) shooting. It was also only the fifth time this season they reached the 100-point mark.
Even more impressive, South Carolina was playing without leading scorer Kamilla Cardoso. Bree Hall stepped up in her absence to lead the team with 18 points and six different Gamecocks players scored in double figures. Chloe Kitts recorded a double-double with 10 points and 12 rebounds in addition to five assists.
South Carolina finished last season undefeated and then went on to win the SEC Tournament Championship. Now it will aim for its second straight conference tournament title before looking to make some noise in the NCAA Tournament.
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The Gamecocks won the national championship in 2022 but failed to repeat last season as they fell against Caitlin Clark and Iowa in the Elite Eight. They will hope to redeem themselves this year as they so far look like the best team in the country.
Staley recently surpassed 600 wins this season and will hope to add her third national championship this season. It will be a tough road to get there, but she’s proven herself determined after last year’s early exit. The players are equally motivated.
“The closer we get towards towards the tournament, the more we feel like we’re going to have to prove ourselves,” Gamecocks forward Ashlyn Watkins said.
South Carolina has two more games remaining in the regular season before the SEC Tournament starts. The Gamecocks will next take on Arkansas at 9 p.m. ET on Saturday in Fayetteville. After that, they are set to close out the season at home against Tennessee on March 3.