GREENVILLE, SC (AP) – South Carolina made history on Sunday, as did the Southeast Conference, with the first championship fight featuring black coaches at Gamecocks’ Dawn Staley and Georgia’s Joni Taylor.
“What you saw gives hope to black women,” said Staley proudly.
It was Staley’s Gamecocks who used a late run in the third quarter to take control and held on to win the 16th Bulldogs ranked 67-62 – continuing their unprecedented streak of six SEC tournament titles in seven seasons.
Taylor was disappointed with the result, not with the statement made by the two women leaders. She remembers when she started high school in Mississippi that she never saw two black coaches in a Power Five conference title game. Taylor is grateful that young people have a different image going forward.
“You can’t dream about what you can’t see,” said Taylor, in his sixth season in Georgia.
Aliyah Boston had 27 points and 10 rebounds to lead South Carolina, which just a week ago lost second place in Texas A&M and saw the Aggies cut nets in celebration of the SEC’s regular season title.
This time it was the Gamecocks, as they did in 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2020 and now, going up the stairs amid the purple, white and yellow streamers and confetti to celebrate.
“We knew we didn’t want to lose,” said Boston, the tournament MVP with three double-double appearances.
The Gamecocks (22-4), twice the country’s number one team this season, have struggled down, with three defeats in their last seven games.
South Carolina, however, fixed things up in style at the SEC tournament. She used big runs at the start of the race to eliminate Alabama on Friday and Tennessee’s number 14 on Saturday night to advance. This time, the Gamecocks opened a tie with a 9-0 run to close the third period.
The Bulldogs closed to 65-62 on Que Morrison’s 3 points with 14.4 seconds remaining. Boston then went on with a couple of free kicks and South Carolina held on to its 14th straight win over Georgia.
This Gamecock streak included the elimination of Bulldogs from four of the last five tournaments.
Morrison scored 20 points to lead Georgia.
Boston, who won the tournament MVP honors, ended his third consecutive double-double tournament. She added four blocks.
Henderson had 18 points for South Carolina.
Georgia’s firing range and defense kept South Carolina under control.
The Bulldogs found a good shot on their own – they hit nine out of 15 shots – for a 23-17 lead after a quarter.
But when Jenna Staiti suffered her second foul at the end of the first quarter, South Carolina found Boston down. Boston scored eight of his 14 points in the first half of the period, while the Gamecocks erased Georgia’s deficit.
It looked like the Bulldogs would hold the lead at halftime before Cooke held on for a final shot and drained a 3-point basket when the time ran out to send the game to the 35th-minute break.
Georgia reached its first tournament final since 2004 with a victory over number 17 in Kentucky on Friday and a comeback from first place and number 2 in Texas A&M, where they recovered by five points less in the second half.
Staiti was upset about the defeat, but hopes the team will regroup. “It hurts,” she said. “It is not the way we want it to fall. But we can put that in perspective with any team in the country, ”
THE GREAT IMAGE
Georgia: Bulldogs have experience and depth and should be a tough match for any team at the NCAA Tournament. The only thing they will have to wait until next season to find out: a way to overcome what has become their enemy in recent years in South Carolina.
South Carolina: It didn’t take long for Gamecocks to assert their dominance once again at the SEC. Boston and Cooke are playing at high levels and, even if South Carolina loses a lot of layups and short jumpers to Staley’s taste, it will be a threat to the national title in a few weeks.
INJURED GAMECOCK
South Carolina senior striker LeLe Grissett, usually the first to leave the bench, played just 2 minutes with an injury to his right foot. She came out of the locker room on crutches with a hiking boot. This did not prevent her, with help, from climbing the ladder to cut a piece of the next one in the post-game celebration. Staley was not sure of Grissett’s status.
GOOD OR NASTY?
Aliyah Boston said that Staley told players that “good teams” cannot win SEC tournaments. Boston said the Gamecocks took it seriously and resisted physical games all weekend. Staley isn’t sure if his team’s nasty switch has been activated forever. “Sordidness is a way of life, really,” she said. “I am very happy to see it is there.”
NEXT
South Carolina and Georgia await the details of the NCAA Tournament.
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