Gamecocks advance to championship in dominant fashion

Greenville, SC- 1 seed South Carolina (31-0, 16-0 SEC) defeated Ole Miss No. 4, 80-51, in the semifinals of the SEC Women’s Basketball Tournament on Saturday at Bon Secours Wellness Arena in Greenville, South Carolina. .

The last time these teams met on February 19, required OT 64-57 gritty win for South Carolina’s top-ranked edge out the Rebels, but this matchup, the Gamecocks dominated from start to finish.

Laeticia Amihere came off the bench and immediately gave the Gamecocks a boost as she scored a season-high 17 points with seven assists and three blocks, while Boston’s Aaliyah recorded her ninth double-double (10 points, 11 rebounds) in the SEC Tournament. , which is the most by an SEC player in the past 20 seasons, and now sits six shy of the conference record.

Madison Scott was the only Rebel to break the double-digit scoring threshold with 15. Angel Baker and Tyia Singleton added nine each. Baker notched seven rebounds and Singleton shot 3-of-4 from three.

Baker broke the scoring seal when he hit a midrange pull-up jumper. Both teams struggled to convert attacking opportunities as defenses on both sides remained stout. However, the Gamecocks made the first push, going up 11-4 at the first media timeout.

Three-pointers began to rule down for both teams as four straight triples, 19-10.

Momentum really started to swing in South Carolina after an Ole Miss airball led to Amihere’s tough layup when he was fouled, giving the Gamecocks a 25-14 lead to end the first. The largest lead in regular season games was just seven.

Ole Miss shot 27.8% from the field, while South Carolina outscored Ole Miss in the paint 22-6 in the first half. The Rebels went into the break down 40-25, making the second double-digit lead at the half.

The shooting woes continued for Ole Miss in the second half as South Carolina went scoreless with 6:00 left in the period when Singleton hit a three, 45-28.

Ole Miss took advantage of South Carolina’s miscues and started to have a flow on offense but it wasn’t enough to close on the Gamecocks’ lead at the end of the third, 58-39.

In the final two minutes, a roar came from the crowd as South Carolina marked its nineteenth 25+ point victory of the season, advancing to the SEC Tournament championship.

At the 7:37 mark of the third, Aaliyah Boston became the program rebound record holder with 1,428, passing Sheila Foster’s record of 1,427.

Amihere became the first player with 15 points, five rebounds and five assists off the bench in an SEC tournament game in the last 20 seasons.

The Gamecocks became the third team in SEC history to have blocked at least 10 shots in different games in the same SEC Tournament, eight of South Carolina’s 14 blocks came from the first round.

South Carolina leads Division I with 45.3 paint points per game and scored 54 in the paint during the semifinal game.

Until Next Time
South Carolina will face the winner of Game 12 between 2-seed LSU and 3-seed Tennessee in the championship of the SEC Women’s Basketball Tournament on Saturday at 3 PM It will be broadcast on ESPN.

Ole Miss (23-8, 11-5 SEC) was eliminated from the tournament.