The #1 ranked South Carolina Women's Basketball accomplished two notable achievements today with their tough 67-58 victory over #14th-ranked Kentucky in Lexington, KY. They were handed a 3rd achievement as a bonus prize.
First, they came into Lexington looking to secure at least a share of the SEC regular-season title with a win over the Wildcats, improving to 14-0 in SEC play. This means that with Mississippi State being 11-2 to start the day and the only team left in the SEC with a chance to impact the Gamecocks' chances, at worst they could finish 14-2 in conference play, and be no worse than tied with Mississippi State overall, provided the Bulldogs won out. South Carolina had already beaten Mississippi State earlier this season, in their sole game against each other, and therefore held the head-to-head advantage over the Bulldogs.
So this meant that a tie of 14-2 at the end of the season would make both South Carolina and Mississippi State co-SEC regular season Champions, and give USC the overall #1 Seed for the SEC Tournament, due to their head-to-head lead.
The win over Kentucky however, was also important for another reason: it was Dawn Staley's 300th win as Head Coach at South Carolina. Staley is already the USC program's winning-est Head Coach, surpassing the previous mark of 231 wins by Nancy Wilson in 2017-18. Staley now has 472 total wins as a WCBB head coach, combining her years at USC and Temple. She'll need next season to reach 500 career wins.
It was a tough hard-fought game for the Gamecocks, as ANY game versus Kentucky seems to be, and certainly ANY game AT Kentucky always is. Zia Cooke led the way with 20 pts on 8-11 shooting, seniors Ty Harris and Kiki Herbert-Harrigan each scored 10 pts - Harris added 6 assists, and Herbert-Harrigan added 8 boards - and reserve Lele Grissett also chipped in 10 pts of her own. Freshman star Aliyah Boston failed to score in double digits for one of the rare occasions of her stellar season, but she did lead the team with 11 rebounds and (along with Victaria Saxton) 3 blocks.
The game was a defensive battle, that saw the Gamecocks go 0-5 from the 3-pt. line. Lately they had been surging as a team from the 3-pt arc, but were dead cold today. Overall they shot 46% from the field, while holding the Wildcats to 30%, although UK did shoot 6-15 (40%) from behind the 3.
BUT WAIT!! THERE'S MORE!!!
We started our game vs UK at 2:00 PM - Mississippi State started their game in Starkville against Alabama one hour earlier, at 1:00 PM. The Bulldogs went into the 4th Quarter leading 51-45 in a hard-fought game.
The lead got to as much as 13 pts for Miss St., leading 58-45. Then Alabama went on an 17-4 offensive tear to tie the game 62-62, with 2:28 left to play - shooting 53% for the period, compared to the Bulldogs' 33%. Back-and-forth the lead went from there, until with the game tied at 64-64 with 3 seconds left, Alabama had the ball: they attempt a quick jump-shot that misses, but another Alabama player snags the rebound, and quickly tips the miss back in for the basket. ALABAMA WINS 66-64!!!
So now we don't have to worry about Mississippi State anymore - at least until the SECT, should we meet there. South Carolina is your stand-alone 2019-20 SEC Regular Season Champions!!, for the 5th time in the last 7 seasons. Outstanding work ladies!!!
:1137988461_smiley01(1)small: :
: :we-re-number-one:
First, they came into Lexington looking to secure at least a share of the SEC regular-season title with a win over the Wildcats, improving to 14-0 in SEC play. This means that with Mississippi State being 11-2 to start the day and the only team left in the SEC with a chance to impact the Gamecocks' chances, at worst they could finish 14-2 in conference play, and be no worse than tied with Mississippi State overall, provided the Bulldogs won out. South Carolina had already beaten Mississippi State earlier this season, in their sole game against each other, and therefore held the head-to-head advantage over the Bulldogs.
So this meant that a tie of 14-2 at the end of the season would make both South Carolina and Mississippi State co-SEC regular season Champions, and give USC the overall #1 Seed for the SEC Tournament, due to their head-to-head lead.
The win over Kentucky however, was also important for another reason: it was Dawn Staley's 300th win as Head Coach at South Carolina. Staley is already the USC program's winning-est Head Coach, surpassing the previous mark of 231 wins by Nancy Wilson in 2017-18. Staley now has 472 total wins as a WCBB head coach, combining her years at USC and Temple. She'll need next season to reach 500 career wins.
It was a tough hard-fought game for the Gamecocks, as ANY game versus Kentucky seems to be, and certainly ANY game AT Kentucky always is. Zia Cooke led the way with 20 pts on 8-11 shooting, seniors Ty Harris and Kiki Herbert-Harrigan each scored 10 pts - Harris added 6 assists, and Herbert-Harrigan added 8 boards - and reserve Lele Grissett also chipped in 10 pts of her own. Freshman star Aliyah Boston failed to score in double digits for one of the rare occasions of her stellar season, but she did lead the team with 11 rebounds and (along with Victaria Saxton) 3 blocks.
The game was a defensive battle, that saw the Gamecocks go 0-5 from the 3-pt. line. Lately they had been surging as a team from the 3-pt arc, but were dead cold today. Overall they shot 46% from the field, while holding the Wildcats to 30%, although UK did shoot 6-15 (40%) from behind the 3.
BUT WAIT!! THERE'S MORE!!!
We started our game vs UK at 2:00 PM - Mississippi State started their game in Starkville against Alabama one hour earlier, at 1:00 PM. The Bulldogs went into the 4th Quarter leading 51-45 in a hard-fought game.
The lead got to as much as 13 pts for Miss St., leading 58-45. Then Alabama went on an 17-4 offensive tear to tie the game 62-62, with 2:28 left to play - shooting 53% for the period, compared to the Bulldogs' 33%. Back-and-forth the lead went from there, until with the game tied at 64-64 with 3 seconds left, Alabama had the ball: they attempt a quick jump-shot that misses, but another Alabama player snags the rebound, and quickly tips the miss back in for the basket. ALABAMA WINS 66-64!!!
So now we don't have to worry about Mississippi State anymore - at least until the SECT, should we meet there. South Carolina is your stand-alone 2019-20 SEC Regular Season Champions!!, for the 5th time in the last 7 seasons. Outstanding work ladies!!!
:1137988461_smiley01(1)small: :
: :we-re-number-one: