The women's college basketball regular season concluded Sunday, and as conference tournaments get underway this week, South Carolina is positioned atop the Southeastern Conference. The team will play its first game at noon on March 6 against Georgia, Kentucky or Arkansas at Bon Secours Wellness Arena in Greenville, South Carolina.
The Gamecocks' 29-2 record overall and 15-1 record in conference play comfortably secured the tournament's top seed with two games left to play. After defeating Missouri on Feb. 26, the team locked up sole possession of the conference's regular-season title.
In the SEC, all 16 teams qualify for the conference tournament. The top eight seeds receive first-round byes, with the top four seeds receiving first and second-round byes. The tournament kicks off on Wednesday at 11 a.m. when ninth-seed Kentucky takes on 16-seed Arkansas. The winner of that game will face eighth-seed Georgia Thursday, and the winner of that game will be South Carolina's first opponent of the tournament.
After posting a 0-15 record in conference play, the Razorbacks ended the season on a high note in a 70-41 win over Auburn at home, earning their first and only conference win of the season. Arkansas had previously lost 16 straight games dating back to Dec. 28.
During its only matchup with Kentucky this season, Arkansas was defeated 93-73 at home. The Wildcats finished the season at No. 17 in the AP Top 25 poll after earning an overall record of 21-9 and 8-8 in conference play. The team played five ranked opponents in February, including two against Vanderbilt (No. 7, No. 5) in 17 days. Kentucky lost both games by a combined total of 3 points.
"What did we finish, 21-9? We're 0-0 now," Kentucky head coach Kenny Brooks said. "Brand new ball game. And that's the approach because it does not matter. It doesn't matter what you did in the regular season; everything is gonna be wiped clean now."
The Gamecocks defeated the Wildcats 60-56 in Sunday's season finale in Lexington, Kentucky, with the Gamecocks scoring their fewest points in a game this season. Standing in the way of a rematch just five days later is Georgia, which finished one game better than Kentucky overall (22-8) and with the same 8-8 record in conference play.
Ranking No. 22 in the latest AP Top 25 poll, the Bulldogs defeated Kentucky 72-67 in their only matchup of the season. The team earned a big win over No. 5 Vanderbilt on Feb. 15, but lost three other games against ranked opponents in February. Georgia gave South Carolina trouble on Jan. 11, holding all but two Gamecocks under 50% shooting. In a defensive battle, South Carolina won 65-43.
The Gamecocks are on a collision course with LSU, which sits as the tournament's fourth seed. The Tigers will play either 13th seed Mississippi State, 12th seed Florida or fifth seed Oklahoma in their first game Friday. If both South Carolina and LSU win their first quarterfinal game, they will face off Saturday at 4:30 p.m. in the tournament semifinal.
The Tigers split their two contests against Texas this season, while also dropping games to Vanderbilt and Kentucky. The Gamecocks handed the team its most recent loss with a 79-72 win in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, on Feb. 14. The game's three top scorers were Johnson, Johnson and Johnson; South Carolina's senior guard Raven Johnson had 19, junior guard Tessa Johnson had 21 and LSU senior guard Flau'jae Johnson had 21.
"I've always said the regular season means much more than a conference tournament championship," LSU head coach Kim Mulkey said.
The Tigers finished the season as the SEC's best 3-point shooting team, but the Gamecocks held the team to 17% in the game. Flau'jae Johnson missed two free throws with 45 seconds left that would've given LSU the lead.
The winner of the semifinal game will play for the conference championship at 3 p.m. on March 8. The tournament's second and third seeds, Vanderbilt and Texas, headline the side of the bracket opposite South Carolina. Barring any second-round upsets, the Commodores are in line to take on seventh seed Ole Miss, while the Longhorns are in line to take on sixth seed Tennessee.
Texas handed South Carolina one of its only two losses of the season in November, when the teams met in the Players Era Championship in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Gamecocks got their revenge at home on Jan. 15, earning a 68-65 victory at Colonial Life Arena. The Longhorns finished the season No. 4 in the AP Top 25. The team's only three losses of the season were to LSU, South Carolina and Vanderbilt.
Vanderbilt ended the season as the AP poll's No. 5 team. The team was a perfect 20-0 prior to playing South Carolina in January. The Gamecocks showed no struggle in a 29-point, 103-74 victory. The team lost games to Ole Miss and Georgia, but defeated LSU in early January and Texas by 16 in February. The Commodores are led by the conference's leading scorer, sophomore guard Mikayla Blakes. Her 27.1 points per game stand alone, with the next closest player at 22.3 points per game.
"This season has been very special," Vanderbilt head coach Shea Ralph said. "We are literally just getting started. March just began. I can't wait to see what's next."
The tournament's top four seeds, South Carolina, Vanderbilt, Texas and LSU, lost a total of 12 games in the regular season. Eight of those came to one another. On Jan. 26, the SEC set a record with 10 teams ranked in the AP Top 25, the most by any single conference in the poll's 50-year history.
"I think this is unprecedented," South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley said. "No other year has been like this year in the SEC."
South Carolina will find out its first opponent Thursday evening. The Gamecocks have won nine of the last 11 SEC tournaments, including three straight. A win this year would join the program with Tennessee, which has 17, as the only two schools in the conference with double-digit tournament championships.