S.C. women celebrate another title
GREENVILLE, S.C. — A’ja Wilson believes No. 5 South Carolina proved it’s not only the best women’s basketball team in the Southeastern Conference, but one of the best in the country — and a major threat in the upcoming NCAA tournament.
The Gamecocks won their third straight SEC tournament title behind Kaela Davis’ 23 points and Wilson’s dominant fourth quarter to rally past No. 6 Mississippi State 59-49 on Sunday. Top-seeded South Carolina (27-4) celebrated amid the falling confetti, but Wilson said the Gamecocks understand there are bigger goals still to chase.
“I think we really showed ourselves,” Wilson said. “We showed a good picture of what we do, how we are here at South Carolina.”
Wilson, a two-time SEC player of the year, is a big part of that. She had seven of her 15 points and eight of her nine rebounds in the final period as the Gamecocks rallied from 45-40 down to win their 10th straight over the second-seeded Bulldogs (29-4).
South Carolina coach Dawn Staley, whose team likely heads to the NCAA tournament as a No. 1 seed, accepts that these Gamecocks will remain out of the national conversation about those program’s capable of ending UConn’s try for a fifth straight NCAA title.
“We’re going to keep flying under the radar,” Staley said. “We’re going to keep getting better. We’re going to keep making the most of the opportunities that we have. Wherever we’re sent, we’re going to continue to play and use the experiences of playing in the SEC to our advantage.”
Mississippi State (29-4) closed within 50-49 on Roshunda Johnson’s bank shot with 4:42 left. The Bulldogs, however, did not score again in losing their second consecutive SEC tourney final to South Carolina.
The Gamecocks already joined Tennessee as the only programs to win four straight SEC regular-season crowns — the Lady Vols won seven straight. South Carolina now became the second team, alongside Tennessee, with three consecutive tournament titles. Tennessee, though, accomplished it twice.
› No. 3 Notre Dame women 84, Duke 61: In Conway, S.C., Arike Ogunbowale scored 21 points and Brianna Turner added 18 as the Fighting Irish won the ACC tournament and clinched an automatic NCAA tournament bid.
Notre Dame (30-3) became the second team in ACC history to win the conference regular-season and tournament titles in four straight seasons. The Blue Devils (2001-04) were the other team.
Lexie Brown scored 16 points to lead Duke (27-5).
› No. 4 Maryland women 74, Purdue 64: In Indianapolis, Brionna Jones had 27 points and 12 rebounds to help Maryland (30-2) win the Big Ten tournament championship for the third straight season and claim the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.
Ashley Morisette scored 18 points for the Boilermakers (2212), whose winning streak ended at seven games.
› No. 21 Wichita State men 71, Illinois State 51: In St. Louis, the Shockers left no doubt as to whom the top team in the Missouri Valley Conference is.
Conner Frankamp scored a career-high 19 points and Markis McDuffie added 16 for Wichita State in the MVC championship
game to earn an automatic NCAA tournament berth.
The teams had split their regular-season series and shared the conference championship, with Illinois State earning the top seed for the league tournament over Wichita State based on its higher position in the Ratings Percentage Index.
The Shockers (30-4) have won 15 straight games since losing at Illinois State on Jan. 14. The Redbirds (27-6) had won eight straight games since losing at Wichita State on Feb. 4.
› Florida Gulf Coast men 77, North Florida 61: In Fort Myers, Fla., Brandon Goodwin scored 19 points and Florida Gulf Coast earned its third NCAA tournament trip in five seasons by winning the Atlantic Sun Conference championship game.
Demetris Morant and Marc-Eddy Norelia each scored 14 for the Eagles (26-7), who tied the program’s Division I-era record for victories in a season.
The school best known for its “Dunk City” run to the Sweet Sixteen in 2013 also went to the Big Dance last season, winning a First Four game before falling to eventual runner-up North Carolina.
Dallas Moore, the leading active scorer in Division I, had 19 points for North Florida (15-19).
› Winthrop men 76, Campbell 59: In Rock Hill, S.C., Winthrop won the Big South Conference to earn its first NCAA tournament berth since 2010.
Keon Johnson, a 5-foot-7 senior, scored 26 points to lead the top-seeded Eagles (26-6), who scored on the first possession of the game and never trailed. Winthrop won on its home court and snapped its streak of three straight losses in the conference title final.
Chris Clemons scored 29 to lead Campbell (17-17).