Gamecock women's basketball took down the LSU Tigers in Greenville, South Carolina, Saturday by a score of 83-77 to advance to the SEC Tournament Championship. The Gamecocks came out on top of a game that included eight lead changes.
Senior center Madina Okot got the scoring started with a layup for the Gamecocks after grabbing two offensive rebounds on the possession. Senior guard Ta’Niya Latson wasn’t far behind, earning a layup of her own to push the score to 4-0.
Dissimilar to the two teams' last matchup, senior guard Flau’jae Johnson hit two consecutive free throws to tie the game at 4. After Gamecock senior guard Raven Johnson retook the lead with a layup, Flau’jae Johnson knocked down two more from the charity stripe, tying the game again at 6.
Tiger junior guard MiLaysia Fulwiley checked in with just under seven minutes to play in the first quarter, and she earned buckets on back-to-back possessions. Halfway through the first quarter, South Carolina led 12-10. Latson had 6 points.
The Tigers took their first lead of the day after a trip to the free-throw line brought the score to 13-12. Latson retook the lead for South Carolina with a pair of free-throw makes.
South Carolina escaped the quarter with a 21-17 lead. The Tigers made two of their final eight field-goal attempts in the period. Latson’s 10 points in the first led all scorers, with Raven Johnson’s 7 not far behind.
The Tigers shot 35.3% (6-17) from the field in the first compared to the Gamecocks’ mark of 44.4% (8-18).
LSU got back within one score after a layup to kick off the second quarter, then tied the game at 21 on the next possession. A series of traded possessions led to a Raven Johnson 3-pointer that tied the game at 25.
Another score by Fulwiley put the Tigers up by two scores. Midway through the second, she had 12 points on 10 shots, four more attempts than any other player.
Junior guard Tessa Johnson got on the board with a corner 3-pointer that tied the game at 29 with just under four minutes to go before half. She hit another a minute later to put the Gamecocks back in front.
South Carolina trailed by 4 at halftime, 40-36. The Tigers shot 52.6% (10-19) in the second quarter, a 17.3% improvement from the first quarter. Tessa Johnson had 8 points in the second, more than all other Gamecocks combined. Fulwiley led all scorers with 15 points. Latson had 13, and Raven Johnson had 10.
Sophomore forward Joyce Edwards got the second-half scoring started after South Carolina forced a stop on LSU’s first possession. After a series of traded possessions, Edwards retook the lead with a converted and-1.
South Carolina was up to a 10-2 run to start the second half after Raven Johnson knocked down her third triple of the game. She and Edwards each had 5 points in the third quarter's first five minutes. Fulwiley started 0-4 after the half.
Sophomore guard Maddy McDaniel scored her first points of the game off a triple from the top of the key, a score that pushed the Gamecocks' lead to 7. Sophomore guard Jada Richard answered with a 3-pointer of her own at the other end, and then Raven Johnson hit her fourth 3-pointer of the game at the other end.
Raven Johnson’s 12 points helped South Carolina outscore LSU 23-14 in the third quarter. She had 22 total points entering the fourth. Okot helped out with six boards in the period.
Senior forward Maryam Dauda scored the first points of the fourth quarter on a put-back make under the basket. The Tigers followed up the make with three consecutive makes, with a layup by Fulwiley bringing her team back within 1 at 61-60 with 7:40 to play.
Fulwiley was up to 24 points after another triple. South Carolina broke the tie with 6 straight points, and then Richard hit her third 3-pointer to bring the game back within one score. With five minutes to play, the Gamecocks led 69-66.
Latson hit two free throws that put her at 17 points and put South Carolina up 6 with just over three minutes to play. She then assisted on an Edwards second-chance bucket that put the Gamecocks up 8, but LSU stayed in it when junior guard Mikaylah Williams knocked down a 3-pointer at the other end.
The two teams traded scores before Raven Johnson dished to Okot in the lane to go back up 7. Fulwiley then turned the ball over, allowing the Gamecocks to run time off the clock ahead of two free throws by Williams bringing the game back within 5 points, with 45.2 seconds remaining.
Okot drove in the paint and hit a layup to put South Carolina up 7 with 15 seconds remaining. Then Williams hit a quick 3-pointer, bringing the score to 81-77 with 8.9 seconds to play. Latson hit a layup off an inbound pass with six seconds remaining to seal the 83-77 win.
Edwards' 10 points in the fourth quarter led the team, while Raven Johnson notched five assists in the period. The win is the program’s 19th straight over LSU and the second of the season.
What's next?
South Carolina advanced to the SEC Tournament Championship for the seventh consecutive season. The team will play at 3 p.m. Sunday, and the game will air on ESPN.