The final regular season home game for the South Carolina women's basketball team started off emotional but became even more special as the Gamecocks went on to beat the No. 24 LSU Tigers 57-48.
Prior to tipoff, the Gamecocks held a special ceremony for seniors Lindsey Spann and A'ja Wilson. Columbia Mayor Steve Benjamin gave Wilson a key to the city and declared Feb. 22 as "A'ja Wilson Day."
"This was pretty amazing that senior night did fall on the 22nd day, that's a great thing," Wilson said. "When I chose 22, I wasn't really the best player, so I felt like I wasn't good enough to wear 23 ... 22 has been treating me well for a long, long time and hopefully I can continue on to wear 22."
Wilson has come a long way since she first decided to come to South Carolina four years ago, and everyone at Colonial Life Arena Thursday night recognized the impact she has made. During the ceremony and when Wilson subbed out for the final time, the crowd gave her a huge ovation and started chanting her name. That's how she knew she really did make an impact here.
"It was great, really can't even put it into words the feeling of that, just to know that you were one of the people to bring your state together in such a positive way," Wilson said. "Just to know, you know, that the decision that I made four years ago was a good decision."
With all of the emotions going into the game, Wilson still did what she does best and put on a show for her final regular season game at home. She finished the night with a career-high 24 rebounds and 27 points, enough to pass Shannon Johnson for second on South Carolina's all-time points list with 2,237.
It took just 23 seconds for number 22 to score the first points of the game. She went on to have another strong game and became the first South Carolina player to score both 20 points and rebounds in one night since Sheila Foster in 1981. For Wilson, having a strong game was how she wanted her senior night to go.
"Who wouldn't want to go out well on their senior night?" Wilson said. "For Lindsey and I to go out the way that we did I think is pretty remarkable."
Despite all of the celebration, the Gamecocks still have a lot of work ahead before their final regular season game at Tennessee on Sunday. Only one other Gamecock scored in double digits against LSU, as Alexis Jennings scored 10. The Tigers scored 22 points off of turnovers Thursday, something that the Gamecocks know needs to be improved upon.
Wilson said she's ready to get back to work and focus on the rest of her time in garnet and black, but for now, she's going to enjoy the special day.
"I just know that this whole day will go down as one of the best days of my life," Wilson said.
South Carolina finish the regular season on Sunday at Tennessee. Tipoff is at 4 p.m., and a win for the Gamecocks give them the No. 2 seed in the SEC Tournament.