top south carolina Defeat number 5 LSU Dawn Staley won her eighth game, 79-72. SEC Championship Sunday at the Bon Secours Wellness Arena in Greenville, South Carolina, for the first time in 10 years. It was a tense matchup between Kim Mulkey and the defending national champion.
The Shamcocks remained undefeated and improved to 32-0 on the season after a near-brawl halt in the fourth quarter.
LSU’s Fraujai Johnson tried to stop Milesia Fulwilly’s late steal. South Carolina’s Camila Cardoso retaliated, pushing Johnson to the ground. Johnson’s teammate Haley Van Lith ran over and confronted Cardoso, and more scuffles ensued. Multiple players from both teams were sent off. Cardoso will miss the first round of the NCAA Tournament due to a struggle.
Fulwilly led all scorers with 24 points. Aneesa Morrow led the Tigers with 19 points. Angel Rees scored 15 points despite suffering from an ankle injury.
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University of South Carolina coach Dawn Staley apologizes for near brawl after winning SEC Tournament
South Carolina coach Dawn Staley seemed calm after winning her eighth SEC Tournament title. “I just want to apologize to the basketball community,” Staley told ESPN sideline reporter Brooke Weisbrod. “When you’re playing a championship game like this and things get heated, there’s no malice (there). Their emotions get too far ahead of them and sometimes things like this happen.
“We want to apologize for any part in that. It’s not us, it’s not about us. I’m happy for our players to finish the game and win the championship again.”
Asked how he would deal with the close play breaking out and causing a 20-minute delay, Staley said, “We’ll talk about it. We’ve always talked about it. Never come off the bench. Don’t go too high on the highs or too low on the lows. It’s tough when you’re playing. I played this game for a long time and I can’t say I was always a saint. Hmm. Your emotions get the best of you. It’s a shame that the players who were sent off won’t be able to participate in the (post-game) celebration.”
End of 4th quarter: South Carolina 79, LSU 72
The fourth quarter was 20 minutes longer than usual because a fight broke out after Fraujai Johnson tried to stop Milesia Fulwilly’s late steal. Players from both teams were sent off.
In the end, the University of South Carolina defeated LSU 79-72. The Tigers pulled within one after a nine-point run capped off by a layup by Angel Reese and two free throws by Johnson. However, the Gamecocks closed out the game with four free throws. They made 16 of 19 from the charity stripe.
Head coach Dawn Staley apologized to “the basketball community” for the altercation.
“That’s not us,” she said on the postgame ESPN broadcast.
A fight is about to break out between South Carolina and LSU.Frauge Johnson’s younger brother is escorted off court
The SEC Championship battle heated up in the fourth quarter when South Carolina’s Milesia Fulwilly made a steal and started dribbling downcourt. LSU’s Frauge Johnson grabbed her from behind to stop her and shoved Amani Bartlett. South Carolina star Camila Cardoso retaliated and pushed Johnson to the ground. Johnson’s teammate Haley Van Lith ran over and confronted Cardoso, and more scuffles ensued.
After the LSU bench cleared out and the South Carolina coach held his players back, a near brawl broke out in front of the scorer’s table.
As the fan jumped over the scorer’s table, police officers quickly gave chase. The fan, identified by ESPN broadcasts as Johnson’s younger brother, was taken off the court. Johnson’s mother was also shown speaking with police officers.
Play was stopped for 11 minutes at 2:08 p.m., with the Gamecocks leading 73-66 while officials resolved the incident.
Johnson was given an intentional foul and Cardoso was disqualified. All players who left the bench were also sent off from the game.
End of 3rd quarter: South Carolina 59, LSU 53
South Carolina entered the fourth quarter holding a 59-53 lead against LSU.
The Siamcocks led by as many as 13 points before the Tigers’ Angel Reese made a physical layup. Then Aaliyah Del Rosario hit the long jump and all of her LSU teammates pumped their fists in reference to Kim Mulkey’s comment about centers needing to play like Mack trucks.
However, Milesia Fulwilly hit back-to-back 3-pointers to regain momentum for South Carolina.
At the end of the period, LSU’s Aneesa Morrow brought the game within four points and the Tigers had another chance to score, but after multiple offensive rebounds and a Frauge Johnson steal, they were unable to get a bucket. There wasn’t.
South Carolina’s Fulwilly leads all scorers with 20 points, while Morrow has 19 points for LSU.
End of second quarter: South Carolina 36, LSU 32, Angel Reese is benched for intentional foul.
The Gamecocks went into halftime up 36-32 despite a bit of a scoring slump in the second quarter.
Midway through the period, Angel Rees elbowed Camila 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 filmed shaking her head in front of a university in South Carolina. Tehina Paopao made two free throws.
Reese had four points and seven rebounds. Aneesa Morrow continues to lead the Tigers with 11 points.
Fraujai Johnson scored his first points for LSU in the second quarter, converting a three-point play with a free throw after being fouled on the long jump.
Coach Dawn Staley’s team went more than four minutes between field goals, but Milesia Fulwily hit a layup with two minutes left in the first half and a 3-point bucket to close out the quarter. She leads South Carolina with 10 points. There are seven pao paos.
LSU outscored South Carolina 22-12 in the first half.
End of 1st quarter: South Carolina 18, LSU 15
South Carolina took an early lead in the SEC Championship, ending the first quarter with an 18-15 lead.
After the Tigers went up 13-7, the undefeated Gamecocks ended the period on an 11-2 run.
Angel Reese scored four points for LSU. She showed up to the game wearing walking boots. Aneesa Morrow led the Tigers with six points.
Milesia Fulwilly was South Carolina’s leading scorer with five points off the bench.
Angel Reese appears at SEC Championship in walking boots
LSU’s leading scorer Angel Reese, who averaged 19.1 points per game, arrives for the SEC Tournament championship game. I am wearing a walking boot on my right foot.
Despite the spikes, Reese took to the floor for pregame warmups and played in the starting lineup. 1st place South Carolina on Sunday afternoon.
On Saturday, Reese had 21 points and 17 rebounds in a 75-67 victory over No. 5 LSU, advancing to the SEC Tournament title game. Reese twisted his ankle in the quarterfinal game against Auburn and played Saturday with a sore ankle. “My ankle is the size of a tennis ball now,” she said.
LSU suffered another major injury Saturday when guard Rust Tia Poa was taken off the court on a stretcher after being bruised on the floor. The team announced Saturday night that Pore suffered a concussion.