South Carolina No. 7 defeats Alabama 75-63 in the SEC tournament

By PETE IACOBELLI
The Associated Press

GREENVILLE – Zia Cooke knows that things have changed in South Carolina. She and her teammates have taken the first step towards changing them back into the SEC tournament.

For most of Cooke’s two seasons, seventh-ranked Gamecocks have been the dominant program of the Southeast Conference. Last Sunday, however, it was Texas A&M number 2 that won the regular season title after a head-to-head win over South Carolina. It is the Aggies who came to the league tournament as a clear favorite.

“We are currently experiencing something new,” said Cooke. “We are underdogs. Nobody likes that. “

Cooke scored 22 points, Aliyah Boston had 16 points and 13 rebounds, and South Carolina’s seventh place withstood a late charge from Alabama for a 75-63 victory on Friday night.

The Gamecocks (20-4) led by 27 in the middle of the second quarter, but saw most of that margin disappear in the stretch after Ariyah Copeland tied the Crimson Tide (16-9) in 66-59 with 5:07 to the end .

But Destanni Henderson followed up with his third 3-point basket and Cooke added a bucket to rebuild the double-digit lead as South Carolina advanced into the tournament semifinals for the sixth time in seven years.

Cooke says there is an advantage to being out of the spotlight, and she believes the Gamecocks have embraced that this week.

“While they are sleeping, you have a chance to wake them up,” she said. “Those are definitely our plans now, to wake the world up and let them know who we are.”

South Carolina will play No. 14 Tennessee or Mississippi on Saturday night for a spot in Sunday’s championship game.

“At this time of year, whether it’s against Ole Miss or Tennessee, we just need to make more moves,” said South Carolina coach Dawn Staley.

South Carolina was kicking Alabama out of the building with a 12-0 start and led 39-12 before Crimson Tide’s steady increase almost caught the Gamecocks napping. Still, they finished things off in their 19th consecutive victory over Alabama – including three this season.

Staley promised that his team, which disappeared in the third quarter of the 66-57 loss to Texas A&M, would show a better and more efficient attack in the league tournament.

Gamecocks paid attention – at least for 15 minutes. They hit five of the first six shots and led 39-12 after Henderson’s 3-point basket, with 4:44 to the end of the break.

They would not be Gamecocks, however, without an offensive drought. That came in the last four minutes before the break, when they lost their last five field goals and Alabama closed with a 14-3 blast to reduce it to 42-26 in the break. Crimson Tide continued to close in the final quarter.

“I prefer to be at this point without playing our best and live to play another day,” said Staley.

Jordan Lewis scored 25 points, 17 in the third and fourth quarters, to lead Alabama. Copeland, who had 22 points and 10 bags in the 82-74 victory over Missouri on Thursday night, added 17 points.

Alabama coach Kristy Curry was not happy with the large starting margin. But she thought about the final 25 minutes, her team “showed who we are, what we are. We just dug a really big hole. “

Henderson finished with 18 points and Boston made his 13th game this season with double-digit points and rebounds.

THE GREAT IMAGE

Alabama: The Crimson Tide has had a breakout season and is projected to end a 22-year drought in the NCAA Tournament when teams are announced on March 15. after the first few rounds.

South Carolina: Gamecocks are still trying to find out about their crime. South Carolina played 15 stellar minutes (16 of 26 shots) to take control. But they were just 14 out of 36 the rest of the way, relying on their defensive strength to avoid a big frustrated bid from Alabama.

STRANGE ATMOSPHERE

Cooke said it took a while to get used to the atmosphere in Greenville and the Bon Secours Wellness Arena, about two hours north of the campus. “We were very tired,” said Cooke. “The air here is crazy.”

GAMECOCKS RUN

South Carolina has improved to 16-1 in the SEC tournament since 2015. Gamecocks have been looking for their sixth tournament title in the past seven years.

NEXT

Alabama looks like it’s going to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 1999.

South Carolina will face Mississippi or No. 14 Tennessee in the SEC semifinals on Saturday.