No. 1 South Carolina wins SEC tourney in game marred by skirmish
MiLaysia Fulwiley scored a career-high 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, 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 pushed the 5-10 Johnson to the ground. Players from both benches rushed toward them.
Cardoso and three of her teammates were ejected. Two LSU players who came off the bench also were sent off.
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. And they did it against the defending national champion Tigers and SEC player of the year Angel Reese.
It was South Carolina’s eighth tourney crown in 10 seasons and its 16th straight win over LSU (28-5), including all four meetings since Kim Mulkey became the Tigers’ coach three seasons ago.
Fulwiley, the speedy, 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 between the first and second quarters to move in front for good.
LSU cut a 13-point deficit to 67-66 on Johnson’s foul shots with 4:36 to play. But Raven Johnson followed with a basket and Wayne grad Bree Hall added two more buckets to extend the margin. Hall finished with nine points.
Aneesah Morrow led LSU with 19 points. Reese had 15 points and 13 rebounds.
Big Ten
No. 3 Iowa 94, Nebraska 89: Caitlin Clark overcame a cold start to score 30 of her 34 points after halftime and help third-ranked Iowa rally past Nebraska 94-89 in overtime to win a third straight Big Ten tournament on Sunday.
Hannah Stuelke had 25 points and nine rebounds for the Hawkeyes (29-4), who trailed by 13 points late in the first half while their superstar 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-pointer had put the Cornhuskers in front.
Alexis Markowski had 23 points and 13 rebounds to lead Nebraska (22-11) in a valiant performance that fell short of a second victory over Iowa this season. The Huskers beat the Hawkeyes 82-79 on Feb. 11.
Natalie Potts had 21 points and nine rebounds for the Huskers, who led 75-67 with 2 1/2 minutes to go in regulation, before Clark drained one of her signature stepback 3-pointers. Her layup in traffic tied the game with 29 seconds left.
Nebraska played for the final shot, and Nissley’s baseline jumper was short at the regulation buzzer. Clark waved her arms at the Iowa-dominated sellout crowd, yelling “Come on! Five more minutes!”
ACC
No. 14 Notre Dame 55, No. 10 North Carolina State 51: Star freshman Hannah Hildalgo had 22 points — including a pair of baskets for the lead down the stretch — as No. 14 Notre Dame held off No. 10 North Carolina State 55-51 in Sunday’s championship game at the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament.
It marked the Irish’s first title in five years.
Hildalgo finished with six rebounds and six assists for the fourth-seeded Fighting Irish (26-6), while Fairmont graduate Maddy Westbeld added 16 points and seven boards.
Notre Dame won the ACC Tournament in its first four seasons in the league from 2014-17, lost in the final in 2018, then returned to claim a fifth title in 2019 under Muffet McGraw.
But the Irish hadn’t been back since amid the transition to Niele Ivey, a former Notre Dame player who led the program to the 2001 NCAA title and was a McGraw assistant.
Ivey, now 46, took over amid the COVID-19 pandemic as a first-time head coach. Now, she has her first title.
River Baldwin had 14 points and seven rebounds to lead N.C. State (27-6), while Aziaha James had 12 points on just 5-for-16 shooting.