[ad_1]
Top-ranked South Carolina beat No. 5 LSU 79-72 to win Dawn Staley’s eighth SEC championship in 10 years on Sunday at Bon Secours Wellness Arena in Greenville, South Carolina. It was a tense matchup against Kim Mulkey and the defending national champions.
The Gamecocks remain undefeated and improved to 32-0 on the season after a near-brawl interrupted the fourth quarter.
LSU’s Flau’jae Johnson attempted to stop MiLaysia Fulwiley’s late steal. South Carolina’s Kamilla Cardoso came in retaliation and pushed Johnson to the ground. Johnson’s teammate Hailey Van Lith rushed up and confronted Cardoso and there was more scuffling. Multiple players from both sides were ejected. Cardoso will miss the first round of the NCAA tournament for fighting.
Fulwiley led all scorers with 24 points. Aneesah Morrow led the Tigers with 19 points. Angel Reese had 15 despite struggling with an ankle injury.
—
End Q4: South Carolina 79, LSU 72
The fourth quarter was 20 minutes longer than usual due to a fight that broke out after Flau’jae Johnson attempted to stop MiLaysia Fulwiley’s late steal. Players from both teams were ejected.
In the end, South Carolina prevailed to beat LSU 79-72. The Tigers got within one point after a nine-point run capped off by a layup from Angel Reese and a pair of free throws from Johnson. But the Gamecocks closed out the game with four free throws. They finished 16-of-19 from from athe charity stripe.
Head coach Dawn Staley apologized to “the basketball community” for the fight.
“That’s not who we are,” she said on the ESPN broadcast after the game.
Fight almost breaks out between South Carolina and LSU; Flau’jae Johnson’s brother escorted off court
The battle of the SEC championship heated up in the fourth quarter when South Carolina’s MiLaysia Fulwiley grabbed a steal and started dribbling downcourt. LSU’s Flau’jae Johnson grabbed her from behind to stop her and then shoved Amani Bartlett. South Carolina star Kamilla Cardoso came in retaliation and pushed Johnson to the ground. Johnson’s teammate Hailey Van Lith rushed up and confronted Cardoso and there was more scuffling.
The LSU bench cleared and a South Carolina coach held players back before a near-brawl started in front of the scorer’s table.
A fan hopped over the scorer’s table and was quickly followed by a police officer. The fan, who the ESPN broadcast identified as Johnson’s brother, was scorted off the court. Johnson’s mother was shown speaking with a police officer.
There was an 11-minute break in play at 2:08 with the Gamecocks up 73-66 as officials sorted through the incident.
Johnson was given an intentional foul and Cardoso was disqualified for fighting. All the players that left the bench were also ejected from the game.
End Q3: South Carolina 59, LSU 53
South Carolina is holding onto its lead going into the fourth quarter, up 59-53 over LSU.
The Gamecocks went up by as many as 13 points before the Tigers’ Angel Reese made a physical layup. Then, Aalyah Del Rosario made a long jumper, and all her LSU teammates were pumping their fists in reference to Kim Mulkey’s comments that the center needed to play like a Mack Truck.
But MiLaysia Fulwiley made back-to-back three-point shots to take back momentum for South Carolina.
At the end of the period, LSU’s Aneesah Morrow brought the game within four, and the Tigers had a chance to score again, but after multiple offensive rebounds and a steal from Flau’jae Johnson, they couldn’t get a bucket.
South Carolina’s Fulwiley leads all scorers with 20 points while Morrow has 19 for LSU.
End Q2: South Carolina 36, LSU 32 with Angel Reese on bench after intentional foul
The Gamecocks march into halftime up 36-32 despite a bit of a scoring drought in the second quarter.
Midway through the period, Angel Reese threw an elbow against Kamilla Cardoso, which was upgraded to an intentional foul. It was Reese’s second foul of the game and she went to the bench after the play. She was shown shaking her head before South Carolina’s Te-Hina Paopao made both free throws.
Reese has four points and seven rebounds. Aneesah Morrow continues to lead the Tigers with 11 points.
Flau’jae Johnson scored her first points for LSU in the second quarter, including a long jumper that she was fouled on and made a three-point play with her free throw.
Dawn Staley’s squad went more than four minutes between field goals, but MiLaysia Fulwiley made a layup with two minutes left in the half and closed out the quarter with a three-point bucket. She leads South Carolina with 10 points. Paopao has seven.
LSU is outrebounding South Carolina 22 to 12 in the first half.
End Q1: South Carolina 18, LSU 15
South Carolina has taken an early lead in the SEC championship, ending the first quarter up 18-15.
The undefeated Gamecocks ended the period on an 11-2 run after the Tigers went up 13-7.
Angel Reese has four points for LSU. She showed up to the game in a walking boot. Aneesah Morrow is leading the Tigers with six points.
For South Carolina, MiLaysia Fulwiley is the leading scorer with five points off the bench.
Angel Reese arrives at SEC championship in walking boot
Angel Reese, LSU’s leading scorer averaging 19.1 points per game, arrived at the SEC Tournament championship game wearing a walking boot on her right foot.
Despite the boot, Reese was on the floor for pre-game warmups and in the starting lineup to play No. 1 South Carolina on Sunday afternoon.
Saturday Reese had 21 points and 17 rebounds to power LSU, ranked No. 5 in the nation, to a 75-67 win over Mississippi to reach the SEC Tournament title game. Reese twisted her ankle against Auburn in the quarterfinals and played on a sore ankle again Saturday. “My ankle is as big as a tennis ball right now,” she said.
LSU suffered another major injury blow Saturday when guard Last-Tear Poa came off the court on a stretcher after hitting her heard on the floor. The team said Saturday night Poa had a concussion.
[ad_2]
Source link