GREENVILLE, S.C. — Day 3 of the SEC Tournament featured league heavyweights flexing their muscles as well as one upset inside Bon Secours Wellness Arena. Texas, Mississippi, LSU and South Carolina all punched their tickets to the semifinals of the SEC Tournament, each doing it in dramatically different fashion, from runaway first-half dominance to record-setting offensive fireworks and relentless defensive pressure.
Texas wasted little time asserting itself, storming past Alabama behind a suffocating defensive start and a blistering offensive surge. Across the bracket, Mississippi overwhelmed Vanderbilt early and survived a late comeback attempt.
LSU unleashed a historic scoring barrage, dismantling Oklahoma behind a record-setting second half and a 40-point fourth quarter that lit up the arena. The top-seeded Gamecocks looked every bit the defending champions, using relentless pace and dominant interior play to surge past Kentucky and keep their quest for a fourth straight SEC Tournament title alive, ensuring that Saturday’s semifinals will feature some of the conference’s brightest stars and fiercest contenders.
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Texas seizes control early, rolls past Alabama
Vic Schaefer never had a reason to remove his suit jacket Friday night.That usually means things are going well for the Texas Longhorns.
Texas seized control early and never looked back. The Longhorns led by as many as 33 points at halftime before going on to defeat Alabama 83-60 in the SEC Tournament quarterfinals at Bon Secours Wellness Arena.
With the win, Texas advances to the semifinals and will face Mississippi at 7 p.m. ET on Saturday. The victory also marked the second time in four days that Texas defeated Alabama after edging the Crimson Tide 72-65 in the regular-season finale on Sunday.
Texas set the tone with a blistering first half, building a 52-19 lead at the break. The Longhorns exploded for 31 points in the second quarter, fueled by Madison Booker, Rori Harmon and Bryanna Preston, who combined for 24 points during the stretch while Texas’ defense held Alabama to just nine points in the period. Jordan Lee sparked the opening quarter with 11 points, finishing the night with 16 points, five rebounds and four assists to lead the Longhorns.
“Thought we played really well in the first half,” Texas coach Vic Schaefer said postgame. “I thought we were really locked in, especially defensively. …. Some kids made some big shots [on offense] and I thought our execution was really good.
“I think we had two turnovers in the second quarter after six [turnovers] in the first [quarter] and held them to about 28 percent [shooting from the floor]. Typical of young kids and teams, it’s hard to keep your foot on the pedal, and we had a hard time doing that in the second half.”
Alabama showed more fight after halftime, outscoring Texas 41-31 in the second half while shooting 50 percent from the floor and 50 percent from 3-point range. The Crimson Tide had struggled offensively early, hitting just 28 percent of their shots in the first half and going 1-of-9 from deep.
Fatigue likely played a role. Alabama entered the game playing its third contest of the tournament after victories against Missouri and Tennessee earlier in the week. Texas controlled nearly every statistical category in the win, outscoring Alabama 21-9 in points off turnovers, dominating the glass 41-26 and finishing with advantages in assists (21-10), second-chance points (20-15), bench scoring (38-28) and fast-break points (11-7).
Four Longhorns finished in double figures. Bryanna Preston added 13 points and three rebounds, providing a spark offensively.
“[Preston] had a solid week and a half of practice, and I thought tonight she played well offensively,” Schaefer said postgame. “Defensively, she’s probably got some things she can do a little bit better, but offensively, I thought she brought a lot to the table. Obviously, making those two threes but again, I’ve seen her make them in practice. … So a lot of confidence in [Preston].”
Booker recorded a double-double with 11 points, 10 rebounds and six assists, while Aaliyah Crump chipped in 10 points with eight coming in the fourth quarter.
Now, Texas turns its attention to Mississippi with a trip to the SEC Tournament championship game on the line. The Longhorns defeated Mississippi 67-64 on Jan. 4, but Schaefer expects the battle to still be a tough one on Saturday.
“When you look at her [Mississippi coach Yolett McPhee-McCuin] team and how they’re playing here in the last couple games, they’re really back to doing what she wants them to do defensively,” Schaefer said. “You got to be ready to match that intensity, take care of the ball on offense, and you know you got to be able to attack them. … They are a tough, physical basketball team, and you better bring the wood when you’re coming to play them because they’re bringing that stick.
“… First thing we better bring is a little bit of a competitive spirit with us because that’s what they [Mississippi] have. That’s a really good Vanderbilt team and they got them on their heels.”
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Mississippi answers coach’s challenge in upset of Vanderbilt
Before its first game in the SEC Tournament, Mississippi coach Yolett McPhee-McCuin delivered a simple message to her team to ignore the noise and play like itself again.
Mississippi entered the tournament on a four-game losing streak. McPhee-McCuin wanted a reset, one built on the identity that has fueled the program’s rise the past five seasons by playing high-quality defense, pressure and a relentless effort to “dictate” and “disrupt” opponents.
Mississippi answered the call.
Riding the momentum from Thursday’s second-round win against Auburn, Mississippi stormed past Vanderbilt on Friday night, building a lead as large as 32 early in the third quarter before holding off a furious comeback to secure an 89-78 upset.
The dominant stretch featured sharp shooting, efficient offense and suffocating defense. Mississippi even neutralized Mikayla Blakes — the SEC Player of the Year — holding the star guard without a field goal or 3-pointer until the final two minutes of the third quarter before she exploded for 24 points by the time the game ended.
“My team knows that they are a good team,” McPhee-McCuin said following Mississippi’s victory. “Sometimes they shock themselves. … We’re going to use the end of the game and the runs that they [Vanderbilt] had to put ourselves [in a position] to handle it better in the future if that happens. …That was a complete game from our team, and we set the tone from when the ball went up probably until the fourth quarter where we kind of unraveled.”
Mississippi appeared firmly in control entering the fourth quarter with a 24-point lead. But the game turned chaotic with 9:25 remaining when Vanderbilt coach Shea Ralph was ejected after arguing a foul call on Blakes during a loose-ball scramble.
“I wasn’t trying to get kicked out. I think I know where I was on the court, but I also think that at that time, what I said was warranted, and the action that I took was warranted, and I’ll stand behind them [her players],” Ralph said postgame. “You want to kick me out, kick me out.
“What I do love is the fight that my team showed. There’s only so many ways you can say something over and over again. I said it differently, and I got kicked out, which is fine, first time in my career. When I went back into the locker room, I was able to turn the TV on and I think what I saw from my team was maybe the coolest thing that’s happened all year. … They showed togetherness, the huddles, the way that they responded, was really special.”
Vanderbilt responded to its coach’s exit with renewed energy, turning up the defensive pressure and catching fire offensively. The Commodores ripped off a 17-3 run that cut Mississippi’s lead to 74-60 with 4:59 remaining.
The margin shrank to as little as 11, but Mississippi leaned on its stars to close the door. Cotie McMahon, Latasha Lattimore and Denim DeShields combined for 21 of Mississippi’s final 24 points to secure the win. The victory sends Mississippi to its fourth SEC Tournament semifinal in the last five years. Mississippi will face Texas at 7 p.m. ET Saturday.
McMahon finished with 27 points, four rebounds and seven assists and said the performance reflected the group’s resilience after its late-season skid.
“I feel like the season is a lot of ups and downs, a lot of learning that you can do from wins and losses,” McMahon said. “Our focus is what’s in front of us.”
Lattimore agreed, saying Mississippi learned a clear lesson from its four-game slide entering the tournament.
“One thing that we really did learn [from our four losses] was that we need to play defense as a team, from the jump, not second half [or] third quarter,” she said. “We need to come out and play defense as much as we can, pressuring the ball from the first possession. We’re going to do that.”
Lattimore led Mississippi with 28 points and eight rebounds. Tianna Thompson added 16 points as the team shot 57.1% (32-of-56) from the floor and 50% (6-of-12) from 3-point range. Mississippi also dominated key categories, outscoring Vanderbilt 48-28 in the paint, 17-9 in fast-break points and 49-5 in bench production.
Next comes a shot at redemption. Texas edged Mississippi 67-64 on Jan. 4 behind 17 points from Jordan Lee, including a late layup and free throw that sealed the win.
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LSU buries Oklahoma, sets up clash with South Carolina
Kim Mulkey sat at the podium Friday wearing a blue jean jacket stitched with orange basketballs. Her team — not known for bombing away from deep — buried more 3-pointers than Oklahoma and then some.
Behind balanced scoring and a record-setting offensive surge, LSU dismantled Oklahoma 112-78 in the SEC Tournament quarterfinals, advancing to a semifinal showdown with South Carolina on Saturday at 4:30 p.m. ET.
“We came out hitting shots,” Mulkey said. “If you’d have told me, we would have almost tripled the number of threes that Oklahoma made, I would have said, ‘You’ve lost your mind.’ We don’t shoot that many, but we shot the ball well today.”
LSU didn’t just shoot well: it rewrote part of the SEC Tournament record book. The Tigers’ 112 points marked the second-most points ever scored in an SEC Tournament game. Leading by 23 after three quarters, LSU exploded for a 40-point fourth quarter and a 67-point second half, both SEC Tournament records. (LSU also eclipsed 100 points for the 14th time this season.) The Tigers finished the game scorching from deep, including an 8-of-11 performance from 3-point range in the final quarter.
The offensive explosion came against an Oklahoma team that hadn’t lost since Feb. 9. The Sooners kept things within reach early. Oklahoma trailed by just 12 at halftime thanks to frequent trips to the free-throw line, going 12-of-14 from the stripe in the opening half.
“I thought we defended good … but we couldn’t stop fouling,” Mulkey said.
But the game flipped completely after halftime.
Jada Richard ignited the third quarter, scoring eight of her 13 points during the stretch as LSU began to pull away. Then Flau’jae Johnson slammed the door with a dominant fourth quarter, scoring 12 of her 21 points as LSU poured it on.
Johnson also reached a personal milestone, becoming the sixth player in program history to surpass 2,000 career points, doing it in front of a large crowd of family and friends from her hometown of Savannah, Georgia.
“I started feeling it and my teammates started finding me open shots,” Johnson said.
MiLaysia Fulwiley led the Tigers with 22 points on 7-of-18 shooting, adding four rebounds and eight assists in a dynamic all-around performance.
Behind Johnson’s 21 points, Mikaylah Williams contributed 14 points and four rebounds. Richard added 13 points and three assists, while Bella Hines chipped in 10 as five LSU players finished in double figures.
Still, both Mulkey and her players pointed to Richard as the engine that makes the offense run.
“We call her [Richard] QB 30 because when she’s on the floor, she tells us where to go,” Williams said postgame. “She’s the energy on defense, she’s extremely important to how we run [offensively].”
Johnson echoed that sentiment.
“It’s not even her ability to score, like she can score but it’s her ability just to calm us down. What are we in? Who do we look for? … She’s just grown so much. … She’s light years ahead of where she was last year, but she’s really dedicated.”
Now LSU turns its attention to a familiar opponent while looking for revenge. The Tigers lost 79-72 to the Gamecocks in Baton Rouge on Valentine’s Day.
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South Carolina surges past Kentucky as Edwards, Johnson fuel rout
Top-seeded South Carolina looked every bit like a team chasing another SEC championship on Friday.
After grinding out a four-point win against Kentucky to close the regular season on Sunday, the Gamecocks seized control early and never let go, rolling past Kentucky 87-64 to advance to the semifinals. The win kept South Carolina on track for a fourth consecutive SEC Tournament title and sets up a semifinal showdown on Saturday with LSU.
Joyce Edwards led the Gamecocks with 21 points, powering an offense that overwhelmed Kentucky from the opening quarter.
Tessa Johnson — affectionately known as “Tournament Tessa” for her postseason performances — added 15 points, including 3-of-4 shooting from beyond the arc. Johnson sparked a pivotal 10-0 run in the second quarter that helped South Carolina create early separation.
Madina Okot recorded her 21st double-double of the season with 12 points and 13 rebounds, while Ta’Niya Latson contributed 11 points and six assists.
Johnson said she has grown comfortable with the postseason nickname attached to her.
“It’s all right,” she said smiling in the postgame news conference. “I was thinking like I wasn’t really consistent during the regular season, and then I was just playing a little better in the tournament. But now I’ve just gotten a little different perspective, and I kind of like it.”
South Carolina’s game plan centered on pace and it worked. Kentucky entered Friday playing its third game in three days after beating Arkansas and Georgia earlier in the tournament, and the Gamecocks made sure the Wildcats had to run.
South Carolina pushed the tempo throughout the game, finishing with 15 fastbreak points, dominating 46-24 in points in the paint and shooting 53 percent from the floor.
South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley said the Gamecocks’ ability to run in transition made the difference compared with Sunday’s close regular-season matchup against the Wildcats.
“The first time we played them [Kentucky] on Sunday, [the Wildcats] did a really good job of slowing the pace down and making us play in the half court and just kind of took away some transition buckets,” Staley said postgame.
“Once we get transition buckets, and we flow a lot differently in the half court, we don’t feel as much pressure to score in the half court when we get some easy buckets. … Joyce [Edwards] got out in front in transition [offense]. Raven [Johnson] passed the ball. … We did a great job. Our guards were sprinting down the floor the way we like them to sprint down the floor. …. That’s probably the difference maker [in the game] in the amount of transition points that we got.”
The victory marked South Carolina’s 35th SEC Tournament win under Staley. Two more tournament wins would deliver another conference crown to South Carolina.
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