Final: No. 3 South Carolina 74 LSU 54
What does it mean?
For the first time in the Dawn Staley era, No. 3 South Carolina will now advance to the SEC Championship game on Sunday after topping LSU. Beating the Tigers wasn’t easy for South Carolina, but the victory was the Gamecocks’ third against the LSU this year. South Carolina has won the league’s regular-season championship two years in-a-row, but the Gamecocks now have a chance to win the SEC tournament for the first time in program history.
With the win, South Carolina improved its already good case to be a No. 1 seed in this year’s NCAA tournament.
The Gamecocks have now won two-straight games after losing their regular-season finale against Kentucky.
Turning point: Trailing 31-27 at halftime against an unranked LSU team, the Gamecocks needed a much better second half performance to advance in the SEC tournament, and that’s exactly what they got.
Once down by 11 points, South Carolina was able to cut LSU’s lead down to four before the half, but the Gamecocks’ start to the second half was what separated Staley’s team from the Tigers.
It wouldn’t take South Carolina long to take the lead out of halftime, but the Gamecocks still led by only four points with just over 11 minutes remaining. But from that point on, South Carolina consistently outscored LSU thanks to much improved play on offense.
Key players:
Tina Roy (South Carolina) -- Throughout the season, junior guard Tina Roy has established herself as someone who can come off the bench for the Gamecocks and hurt teams with her three-point shooting. Roy did just that on Saturday, but South Carolina relied on her play more than usual. Having a tough time early on against LSU, the Gamecocks counted on Roy to get their offense going. Roy scored a season-high 15 points, 12 of which came in the second half as she connected on five of her 10 three-point attempts.
Alaina Coates (South Carolina) -- In the early minutes of the game, LSU made its defensive gameplan clear. The Tigers were going to crowd the inside and make South Carolina earn its points from the perimeter. However, as players like Roy and junior guard Tiffany Mitchell began to make shots, the post became less congested and sophomore center Alaina Coates took advantage. Coates led South Carolina with 16 points and hauled down eight rebounds as the Gamecocks began to pull away in the second half.
Dashawn Harden (LSU) -- To avoid having to deal with South Carolina’s size and depth near the basket, LSU put an emphasis on shooting the ball well from the outside and the Tigers did just that as they led for the entirety of the first half. Senior guard Dashawn Harden lead the Tigers early on. Harden entered the Tigers’ matchup against South Carolina averaging only 10.6 points per game, but by halftime, Harden had put up 17 against the Gamecocks in the first half, five of those from the three-point range. However, South Carolina was able to contain Harden in the second half as the Tigers struggled down the stretch. Harden was held to just two points after halftime.
Key stat: After shooting just 35 percent in the first half, South Carolina made 78 percent of its shots in the second half.
Analysis: When you’ve established yourself as the SEC’s best, you’re going to get every team’s best shot, especially in the postseason. This was the case on Saturday as LSU came out ready to go against the Gamecocks.
The Tigers had lost their two prior meetings against South Carolina this season by wide margins, but believed that they could upset the Gamecocks to earn a spot in Sunday’s championship game, and for one half, it looked like they could.
LSU made things difficult for South Carolina on offense and the Gamecocks struggled to defend the Tigers, as well.
Nevertheless, South Carolina was able to bounce back and dominate the second half.
After struggling to shoot the ball in the first half, the Gamecocks made 18 of their 23 shots in the second half.
Meanwhile, LSU committed nine turnovers after halftime while shooting only 33 percent.
South Carolina will need to avoid having another slow start on Sunday in the SEC championship, but the Gamecocks showed how talented they still are when they dominated the second half. While Staley’s team wishes it could have played better basketball from start to finish, South Carolina came up big down the stretch in a game that it needed to win to avoid falling to a No. 2 seed in the NCAA tournament.
Quote of the game: “It’s going to take executing the game plan. Whatever coach Staley asks of us, just doing it.”-- Roy, on what it’s going to take to win Sunday.
What’s next?
South Carolina will face the winner of Saturday night’s game between No. 5 Tennessee and No. 12 Kentucky in Sunday’s championship contest.
The Gamecocks defeated Tennessee 71-66 12 days ago at Colonial Life Arena, but fell on the road against Kentucky last Sunday.