The South Carolina women's basketball team accomplished the first of many postseason goals Sunday, defeating the Mississippi State Bulldogs 66-52 to claim their second consecutive SEC Tournament title. It was the Gamecocks' balanced offense that led the way yet again, with three players scoring in double figures. Sophomore forward A'ja Wilson and senior guard Tiffany Mitchell, who was named SEC Tournament MVP, led with 19 points each. Senior guard Khadijah Sessions added 11 points, while sophomore guard Bianca Cuevas added a valuable seven off the bench.
South Carolina established the tone for the game in the paint, outscoring the Bulldogs 36-14 down low. The Gamecocks also won the rebound battle 37-28, led by 13 boards from Wilson. Mississippi State simply had no answer for the physicality of South Carolina, and it showed, as many key players for the runners-up found themselves in foul trouble.
All-SEC First Team guard Victoria Vivians certainly did her part for the 16th-ranked Bulldogs, putting up 11 points in the first quarter and finishing with 26 on the game. Unfortunately, Vivians' teammates were unable to help her out, putting up 26 points of their own on 10-30 shooting.
The Gamecocks never really broke a sweat over the weekend, as they were in control for almost the entirety of each of their games against Auburn, Kentucky and Mississippi State. South Carolina may have turned in their best performance of the season in Saturday's semifinal against the Wildcats, winning in dominant fashion by a score of 93-63.
Coach Dawn Staley has now won three SEC regular-season championships and back-to-back SEC Tournaments, going 45-3 in conference play over the last three seasons. Staley has turned the program into a national powerhouse, as the Gamecocks reached their first final four in school history last season,and are certainly expected to do it again. With the SEC trophy in hand, South Carolina has solidified their place as a number one seed in the upcoming NCAA Tournament.
Because of their high seed in the tournament, the Gamecocks will host their first two games in Colonial Life Arena in two weeks. Staley will likely tell her team to focus on just one game at a time, but it's hard to envision this season's Final Four without the Gamecocks.