South Carolina women's basketball defeats LSU to win the SEC Tournament Championship

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South Carolina’s eighth SEC tournament championship might have been its most unexpected, with a benches-clearing brawl and a freshman phenom helping the Gamecocks beat LSU 79-72.

Fulwiley, who was named tournament MVP, scored a career-high 24 points and South Carolina went 6-6 from the free throw line in the fourth quarter to secure the win.

“I feel like basketball is a confidence, that’s the key to basketball,” Fulwiley said. “I feel like my confidence is out the roof when I step on the court. Nobody can guard me, check me. It’s really a mind thing. I just told myself that I have to lock in and play better.”

With about two minutes left in the game, Fulwiley stole the ball from Flau’jae Johnson, who grabbed Fulwiley for an intentional foul to prevent a layup. As the Gamecocks ran to celebrate with Fulwiley, Johnson shoved Ashlyn Watkins with her forearm. 

As players were being separated, Kamilla Cardoso ran in and leveled Johnson. Johnson’s brother jumped onto the court and entered the fray as both benches cleared, police swarmed, and players were separated again.

After a review that lasted almost 15 minutes, Johnson’s foul was upgraded to an intentional foul and Cardoso was disqualified. All players from both benches were ejected. South Carolina finished the game with just six players, and LSU finished with just five.

“The main point was we got to finish it out on these last two minutes, be composed,” Te-Hina Paopao said. “It’s a mental thing. We got to stick together. At the end of the game, we just got to be there for each other and finish with high heads, high heads up.”

LSU coach Kim Mulkey blamed the officials for letting tempers simmer until they reached a boiling point.

“Do you realize there was only one foul called on each team with two minutes to play in the fourth quarter?” she said. “Are you kidding me? That might have created some of that. Not the way we play. We gonna foul your ass. Not the way they play. They’re going to foul your ass. But you only blew that whistle one time?”

South Carolina took a 67-57 lead with seven minutes remaining, but LSU answered with a 9-0 run. Raven Johnson banked in a runner to end the run, and then Bree Hall, who has made a habit of hitting big shots in Greenville, scored back-to-back baskets to put South Carolina in control. 

After that, all hell broke loose.

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Fulwiley’s 24 led all scorers, and she did it in just 17 minutes. She added two assists and two steals and was instrumental in limiting Hailey Van Lith to 14 points.

“Her maturation process has been great. She’s a learner,” Dawn Staley said. “She says she’s out there hooping. She’s out there hooping and learning, grasps what it takes to play at a high level all the time, like all the time. She had it going on today. She was able to score. She was able to find teammates. I think just her presence, her speed, her ability to create her own shot was needed today, like no other.”

Te-Hina Paopao added 12 points and five assists. Raven Johnson had nine points, five assists, and five rebounds.

Aneesah Morrow led LSU with 19 points and 10 rebounds. Angel Reese had 15 points and 13 rebounds. They were limited to 5-18 and 7-19 shooting, however.

South Carolina shot 43.1% while holding LSU to 37.3% shooting. LSU outrebounded South Carolina 44-37 but committed 17 turnovers. South Carolina turned them into 22 points. 

“Turnovers killed us today,” Mulkey said.

Just like in the first meeting, LSU started fast and sprinted out to a 13-7 lead at the first media timeout. But in the first game, they were playing their third game in three days with a freshman making her first career start due to injuries.

South Carolina began chipping away at the lead. A steal and layup by Te-hina Paopao gave South Carolina its first lead, and another turnover led to a pair of free throws by Tessa Johnson to cap a 6-0 quarter-ending run.

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In all, South Carolina outscored LSU 17-5 over a six-minute span.

MiLaysia Fulwiley scored 10 points in the third quarter to give South Carolina a 13-point lead. But she followed her last layup by giving Hailey Van Lith the “too small” sign and LSU noticed. Van Lith answered with a jumper to start a 9-0 run.

LSU normally only plays seven players, and the Tigers were missing Last-Tear Poa, who suffered a concussion in Saturday night’s win over Ole Miss. Mikaylah Williams, who missed the last three games with a foot injury, returned to action. However, she did not start and was limited to a couple of minutes of play at a time.

Additionally, Angel Reese was playing through an ankle injury and Aneesah Morrow had a black eye from the Auburn game on Friday. To top it all off, they lost an hour of rest and recovery because daylight savings time began.

“I’ve never been a part of a game like that,” Reese said. “But of course you know two heavy hitters, we gonna battle. We not scared of them, they not scared of us. We came in, knew what we had. They came in, knew what they had. It turned in ways we didn’t want it to go. I’m proud of this team. We fought.”

Notes:

Freshman Janae Kent got her first career start for the depleted Tigers. She had three points and two turnovers in 13 minutes. … The ejected players were not allowed to participate in the postgame trophy presentation and net-cutting ceremony. … LSU played only seven players. Morrow, Johnson, and Van Lith each played the entire game. … South Carolina used all ten players and nobody played more than Paopao’s 32:29. … Everyone except Sakima Walker scored. … Dawn Staley’s outfit: Staley wore a black-on-black Gucci sweatsuit. … South Carolina now awaits the NCAA Tournament Selection Show on March 17. The Gamecocks are the presumptive top overall seed.

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