GREENVILLE, SC – Aliyah Boston thinks South Carolina’s No. 7 played a complete game – finally.
Zia Cooke scored 17 points, Aliyah Boston had 15 points and 11 rebounds and the Gamecocks passed No. 14 Tennessee 67-52 on Saturday night and in the SEC Tournament title game for the sixth time in seven years.
South Carolina opened up a big advantage in the first quarter and never waned, something it struggled with during the regular season, when it had leaders against No. 1 UConn, No. 14 Tennessee and No. 2 Texas A&M, still lost all three.
Facing Lady Vols (16-7) again with a big advantage, South Carolina did not miss out.
“I think we were stuck from the start,” said Boston, a six-foot-year sophomore. “We were playing very well in defense and the attack was moving, so I would say this is the first game in which we played a full 40 (minutes).”
They are likely to need another similar effort when the Gamecocks (21-4) face Georgia No. 16, who came in first and Texas A&M No. 2 in the other semifinal.
South Carolina coach Dawn Staley, who has urged her group all year around consistency in the attack, is seeing results.
“I was impressed with our team,” she said. “I think our team is growing and they are learning. We probably took it to lose some basketball games, our attack stagnated in some games, to understand what we are trying to accomplish ”.
Unlike the first meeting between these teams – Tennessee went up 16 by less to hand South Carolina its first SEC loss in two seasons – the Gamecocks kept the pressure on all the time.
Tennessee was attempting its first appearance in the finals since 2015. That year, it lost the title to the upstart South Carolina, the beginning of Gamecock’s dominance over the SEC that doesn’t seem to be ending yet.
Boston and Cooke made that clear with their moves throughout this one.
Boston showed his game away from home with a pair of 3 points to go along with three assists, two blocks and a steal.
Cooke also had a pair of 3s and was continuously humming through Tennessee’s defense for baskets.
South Carolina took control with its initial run. The Lady Vols were ahead by 11-10 in the middle of Rennia Davis with 3 points in the middle of the period, when the Gamecocks took off in their game-breaking wave.
Boston started the race with a 3-point basket, only ninth of the season, and Cooke closed with a 3-point basket and three free throws to place the Gamecocks at 16.
Lady Vols appeared to be dragging along a bit after a tough 77-72 victory over Mississippi on Friday night, down six points in the fourth quarter.
Davis, who had 33 points and 14 rebounds against Ole Miss, finished with nine points from 3 of 12 shots.
Jordan Walker and Jordan Horston each had 11 points to lead Lady Vols. Tennessee had its fewest points of the season.
The Boston double-double was his second in a row in the tournament and the 27th of his career.
THE GREAT IMAGE
Tennessee: The Lady Vols used to own this event, winning 17 times between 1980 and 2014. Now, the series of fouls in the finals has grown to six consecutive years. Tennessee will have some work ahead of them to prepare for what they hope will be a deep run for the NCAA Tournament.
South Carolina: While the Gamecocks have a streak of 13 consecutive wins over Georgia, the Bulldogs are showing patience, versatility and their own ability to regroup quickly as they did to defeat Texas A&M.
PREPARING FOR THE TITLE GAME
South Carolina’s Staley said the job of preparing his players for a quick turnaround on Sunday (the title game is about 17 hours after the end) depends on the medical team and the team’s conditioning. “It’s not in my hands right now,” she said.
EARLY SHAKES
Tennessee coach Kellie Harper said her team struggled with South Carolina’s physical game at the start and it cost them dearly. She said that her team was unable to stop and the Gamecocks cleaned up the missed shots with throwing baskets. “South Carolina did a great job on the physical side and we have to be able to handle that a little bit better.”
NEXT
Tennessee will await your NCAA Tournament pairing.
South Carolina goes up against Georgia’s No. 16 for the SEC tournament title on Sunday.
Seventh place in the South Carolina women’s ranking in 14th place in Tennessee, reaching the SEC finals originally appeared on NBCSports.com