When South Carolina women's basketball clinched at least a share of the SEC regular season title on Feb. 22, there were no celebrations by Gamecocks players or coaches. The team waited until Thursday, when it defeated Missouri 112-71 to earn sole possession of the title.
"It's cool when you share it, but not really," head coach Dawn Staley said. "We want to win it outright."
The Gamecocks honored four seniors before tipoff: forward Maryam Dauda, guard Ta'Niya Latson, center Madina Okot and guard Raven Johnson.
Those four players were largely responsible for the dominance seen in Thursday's win. By the end of the first quarter, South Carolina had jumped out to a 20-point lead. In just five minutes each, Okot had 8 points, and Dauda had 6. Latson added 4 as well.
South Carolina's defense stifled Missouri early, allowing a success rate of just 25% from the field across 16 attempts in the first quarter. Only one Tiger made a field goal in the period.
The two teams flipped efficiency in the second quarter, with South Carolina shooting 39.1% (9-23) and Missouri notching an even 50% (7-14). Despite this, Latson and Okot combined for 10 points and five rebounds to aid in outscoring the Tigers 24-19 in the quarter.
Okot was up to 12 points and seven rebounds at halftime, with Latson adding 10 points through two quarters. Dauda had 8 points in eight minutes, and Johnson added 5 points and three rebounds. Both were 100% from the field at the game's midway point.
The team's 25-point halftime lead was largely thanks to utter dominance in the paint. South Carolina had 21 second-chance points in the first half compared to Missouri's zero. The Gamecocks had out-rebounded the Tigers by 10 (27-17) and had won the scoring battle in the paint 32-10.
In the third quarter, Okot notched her 19th double-double of the season and her sixth consecutive. In the fourth, she scored 12 unanswered points for the team, going 6-7 in the process. She finished with 17 total rebounds, tying her season-high, and added a SEC season-high 26 points on top.
"I was looking at her stats throughout the game, and then we get to the fourth quarter, and she had only played 14 minutes," Staley said. "I'm like, 'Only 14 minutes?' I think she sent word up to the front of the bench that she wanted to play some more."
A triple from Johnson in the fourth quarter set a career-high for most made 3-pointers in a game with four. She ended the night with 16 points, five assists and five rebounds.
"I'll miss her every day in practice," Staley said. "There's a certain comfort level you have with players that bring it every day ... I'm going to miss that feeling."
Seniors accounted for three of the Gamecocks' top four scorers on Thursday, with Latson adding 17 points to go along with a season-high seven assists and five rebounds.
The team tried to feed Dauda to end the game, who had eight points entering the quarter on just two field goal attempts, but she preferred to get the ball to her teammates.
"She wants to see others eat," Johnson said. "We tried to get her a shot, and she said, 'It's okay, I don't want it.' It's things like that. She would give up her last meal for somebody else ... That stuff is contagious."
That selflessness was contagious against Missouri. The team assisted on nearly half its made shots, making 44 shots on 21 total assists. All nine players to see the court scored at least one bucket.
"We had seven assists on 21 field goals at halftime," Staley said. "We just talked about sharing the basketball, and when we're able to do that and find who should shoot the ball in rhythm, we're a much better basketball team."
South Carolina has won five consecutive SEC regular-season titles, with four outright following Thursday's win. The 112-point performance by the Gamecocks set a program record for the most ever in an SEC game.
The team will take on No. 16 Kentucky this Sunday to close out the regular season, then the focus will shift to the SEC tournament in Greenville, South Carolina. The Gamecocks have won the tournament each of the last three seasons.
"We like confetti," Johnson said. "I didn't see no confetti today. So, we got more work to do."