South Carolina wins tourney in game marred by skirmish
MiLaysia Fulwiley scored 24 points, including four 3-pointers, as No. 1 South Carolina held off No. 8 LSU 79-72 to win the Southeastern Conference tournament title Sunday in Greenville, S.C., a victory marred by a fourth-quarter fight that led to Gamecocks leading scorer and rebounder Kamilla Cardoso being ejected.
South Carolina (32-0) was ahead 73-66 when Fulwiley stole the ball from Flau'jae Johnson, who wrapped her up and was called for a foul. Johnson then bumped South Carolina's Ashlyn Watkins, and the 6-foot-7 Cardoso rushed and pushed the 5-10 Johnson to the ground. Players from both benches rushed toward them.
Cardoso and three of her teammates were ejected along with two LSU players who came off the bench.
Cardoso can be expected to miss time in the NCAA tournament for her actions. The Gamecocks enter March Madness as the clear-cut No. 1 seed and the only undefeated team left in Division I, men or women.
It's South Carolina's eighth tournament crown in the past 10 seasons.
Fulwiley, the flashy freshman, put on a show in her first SEC tournament and was named its most valuable player. She hit two 3s as South Carolina used a 24-11 run between the first and second quarters to move in front for good.
Aneesah Morrow led LSU (28-5) with 19 points. Angel Reese had 15 points and 13 rebound.
NO. 3 IOWA 94, NEBRASKA 89, OT >> Caitlin Clark scored 30 of her 34 points after halftime to help the Hawkeyes rally in Minneapolis to win a third straight Big Ten tournament title.
Hannah Stuelke had 25 points and nine rebounds for Iowa (29-4), which trailed by 13 points late in the first half as Clark missed all nine of her 3-point attempts.
The all-time NCAA leading scorer finished 5 for 17 from deep, had 12 assists and hit the dagger 3-pointer with 51 seconds left in OT for an 89-87 lead just 16 seconds after Logan Nissley's 3 had put the Cornhuskers in front.
Alexis Markowski had 23 points and 13 rebounds to lead Nebraska (22-11).
Natalie Potts added 21 points and nine rebounds for the Huskers, who led 7567 with 21/2 minutes to go in regulation, before Clark drained one of her signature step-back 3-pointers. Her layup tied the game with 29 seconds left.
NO. 14 NOTRE DAME 55, NO. 10 NORTH CAROLINA ST. 51 >> Star freshman Hannah Hidalgo had 22 points, including a pair of baskets for the lead down the stretch, and the Fighting Irish topped the Wolfpack (27-6) in the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament title game.
Hidalgo finished with six rebounds and six assists and was named the tournament's most valuable player. Maddy Westbeld added 16 points and seven boards for Notre Dame (26-6).
NO. 9 UCONN 59, MARQUETTE 29 >> Paige Bueckers had 27 points and 12 rebounds to lead the Huskies in the Big East tournament semifinals.
In tonight's title game, UConn (28-5) will face sixth-seeded Georgetown, which upset No. 21 Creighton 55-46.
Marquette (23-8) made just 12 baskets on 54 shots (22%) and scored its last points with 4:49 left in the third quarter.
CHATTANOOGA 69, UNC GREENSBORO 60 >> Jada Quinn scored 18 of her 32 points in the fourth quarter to lead the top-seeded Mocs (28-4) to their 20th Southern Conference tournament title with a win over the second-seeded Spartans (21-11).
RICHMOND 65, RHODE ISLAND 51 >> Maggie Doogan scored 18 points and the Spiders (29-5) added their first Atlantic 10 Conference tournament title to their first regular-season crown with a win over the Rams (21-14).
PRESBYTERIAN 60, RADFORD 37 >> Bryanna Brady scored 21 points to help the
Blue Hose (20-14) beat the Highlanders (15-17) to win the Big South Conference tournament and earn the program's first trip to the NCAA Division I tourney.
Men
NO. 3 PURDUE 78, WISCONSIN 70 >> Zach Edey had 25 points and 14 rebounds in his home finale, becoming the first Big Ten player to exceed 2,200 career points and 1,200 boards, and the Boilermakers topped the Badgers (19-12, 11-9).
Braden Smith added 10 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds for Purdue (28-3, 17-3).
DRAKE 84, INDIANA ST. 80 >> Tucker DeVries scored 27 points and the secondseeded Bulldogs (28-7) defended their Missouri Valley Conference tournament title with a victory over the Sycamores (28-6) in St.Louis.
LONGWOOD 85, UNC ASHEVILLE 59 >> Michael Christmas scored 18 points, Walyn Napper had 10 points, 11 assists and seven rebounds and the fifth-seeded Lancers beat the No. 2 seed Bulldogs (22-12) to win the Big South Conference tournament.
STETSON 94, AUSTIN PEAY 91 >> Jalen Blackmon scored 43 points, making 14 of 17 free throws, and the secondseeded Hatters (22-12) beat the fourth-seeded Govs (1915) to win the Atlantic Sun Conference tournament.