GREENVILLE, S.C. — Defense wins championships.
Elite defense makes championship games blowouts.
South Carolina women’s basketball turned in a teach tape defensive performance in the SEC Championship Game, locking down Texas to an extreme degree in an overwhelming performance to win 64-45 and claim the program’s ninth SEC Tournament title and fifth in six years. The 45 points allowed tied the fewest ever in an SEC Championship Game, equaling the mark Vanderbilt set in 2007.
An even feeling out process of a first quarter saw South Carolina (30-3) leave with a slim 12-10 advantage, but the warning signs were all there. South Carolina forced five turnovers, denied nearly every post entry and held Texas (31-3) star and SEC Player of the Year Madison Booker completely off the scoreboard thanks to locked in defending from Bree Hall and Tessa Johnson.
All the Gamecocks had to do was find a few openings in a tough Texas defense at the other end, and a run would emerge. Chloe Kitts started it with a tough and-1, Sania Feagin scored on a layup and after the score stagnated at 17-10 for almost two minutes, Johnson knocked down a corner 3-pointer to take the advantage out to double-digits.
At the other end, perfect might be an understatement for how well the defense played. Every rotation was on point, the double–teams on Booker were fierce, the post presence was unmovable and Texas simply had no chance to get into anything resembling a good flow. At one point the Longhorns went over seven minutes without scoring a point, highlighted by a stretch with four turnovers in five possessions.
By the time Texas finally dented the scoreboard again, the game was all but over. The 13-0 South Carolina run lasted over seven minutes and forced a Texas team which has already struggled offensively over the last month had no chance of clawing back into the game.
The breathtaking final numbers from the first half stood at 16 points for Texas, 11 turnovers, just eight made field goals and under 0.5 points per possession.
A second half stalemate made the score look a little bit more favorable for the Longhorns, but there was no mistaking the domination. It took until the final five minutes for Texas to hit its first 3-pointer of the game, and a methodical, consistent second half offense made sure the lead never even reached single-digits.
All season, South Carolina and Texas were the two best teams in the conference. They were a staggering 34-0 combined against everyone else. They tied for the title, beat each other in home games and needed a coin flip to settle the No. 1 seed.
There was reasonable doubt about which team was better and how a third game would go.
None of it showed on Sunday. There was no question whatsoever after this one.
South Carolina is the best team in the SEC, end of discussion.
And might still be the best team in the country.
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