The South Carolina women’s basketball team clinched their third straight SEC regular season title Thursday night with a 61-51 win over rival Georgia.
“I'm ecstatic that we’re able to do the unthinkable,” head coach Dawn Staley said on winning the title. “No one thought we would be sitting where we're sitting today besides the players and the parents that believed in our program and believed in the vision of our coaching staff and I’m really proud.”
South Carolina entered Thursday night’s game knowing they could claim the title with a win. The game was off to a slow start, with the Gamecock offense not producing a lot of good looks, and the team held just a 10-9 advantage at the end of the first quarter. The Gamecocks picked up from there, but it was still not the same offense as seen all season.
Although South Carolina struggled offensively, their defense was impressive as usual. They held Georgia to four points in the second quarter, and just 13 in the entire first half. The Gamecocks had a total of 30 defensive rebounds, with sophomore forward A’ja Wilson leading the way with nine total rebounds.
The Gamecocks were in control from start to finish, leading into the 39th minute of game time and allowing the Bulldogs to lead just once for a total of 24 seconds. The Georgia lead was a single point before senior guard Khadijah Sessions drained a three.
Senior guard Tiffany Mitchell continued to impress as she led the team with 19 points. Wilson and Sessions also had good nights, with 16 and 13 points respectively. The Gamecocks needed their strong performances as they were missing some key players and only used seven during the game. Sophomore guard Bianca Cuevas sat out, and sophomore forward Jatarie White was sick, but Staley believes both will be ready to go for Monday’s game.
After a tough few games and a short bench, the players were noticeably exhausted, physically and mentally, during Thursday’s contest. Staley said there’s a little bit of rest but getting some players back will help this.
“I think once we get those two players [Cuevas and White] back into the rotation, things will settle out a little bit where we can divvy out those minutes,” Staley said. “Our big players are playing a lot more minutes than they usually play but they’ll be fine in the long haul.”
The Gamecocks continued to struggle from the free throw line especially late in the game, shooting just 59 percent even with Mitchell hitting seven of her eight attempts. South Carolina will need to improve their free throws as they begin to prepare for postseason play.
As Staley mentioned, the Gamecocks did not play their best basketball against Georgia. Even though they have the SEC title locked up, they have some improvements to make as they prepare for the postseason. The grind will continue for South Carolina on Monday, when they take on the Alabama Crimson Tide in Tuscaloosa.