Texas defeats South Carolina to win its first SEC women’s tournament title

GREENVILLE, N.C. – Twenty seconds into the women’s SEC Championship game, Texas opened the scoring with a layup. Another bucket in the paint came 26 seconds later. Three more layups and a few jumpers later, the Longhorns had an incredible 14-0 lead over three-time defending champion South Carolina.

Those opening five and a half minutes set the tone for the entire match. No. 3 South Carolina (31-3) tried to make a run, but No. 4 Texas (13-3) answered every time — and never let its lead fall below double digits en route to a 78-61 victory and its first SEC Tournament title on Sunday afternoon.

“I had some kids that were here on a mission,” Longhorns coach Vic Schaefer said.

One of them was tournament MVP Madison Booker, who scored 18 points and averaged 20 points on 61% shooting in the three tournament victories.

“We belong in the SEC,” said Booker, who scored 14 points in the second half on 6-of-11 shooting. “We’re here to play, and we’re here to win.”

The victory was as comprehensive as it was stunning. Not only has South Carolina won the past three SEC tournament titles, but the Gamecocks haven’t lost this badly in an SEC Tournament game since 2011.

Even when the Gamecocks found themselves frustrated during their period of conference dominance, they found ways to fight back. But on Sunday, in front of a packed crowd of South Carolina fans, the Gamecocks came away mentally and physically tired.

Texas took full advantage as Schaefer, who also led Mississippi State to the crown in 2019, became the first coach to win an SEC women’s tournament title at multiple schools.

“Our team knows we didn’t play our best basketball, not nearly as well as we could have done,” South Carolina coach Don Staley said.

As for the message she delivered to her team in the locker room after the game?

“I told them the last time we lost in this situation, we won the national championship,” Staley said. “This might be the thing this team needs. This is not what I think is coming today, but now that we’re here and this is a reality, you’re looking for things that have a connection, that can give your team what it needs to make that national championship. I think we have enough room to do that.”

So does Schiffer. Both teams should still end up in first place in the upcoming NCAA Tournament, but there’s no doubt that Texas is playing its best basketball this season — having dominated South Carolina much as Ole Miss and Alabama did in this tournament.

“If you can put it in a bottle and put a cork on it…if we can unscrew that cap every game and play like that? Be tough,” Schaefer said.

“But that’s the challenge of coaching kids. Sometimes you don’t know what you’re going to get day to day and game to game. But this is their 31st win. They’ve found a way to win most nights. From a confidence standpoint right now, our kids have a lot of confidence. I think they played like that tonight.”

Texas now has 14 wins over AP ranked opponents this season — including three wins against top-five teams (two vs. South Carolina, one vs. UCLA).

The first minutes proved decisive. Schaefer said he began challenging his team on Saturday to play hard, especially in a pro-South Carolina environment. On the chalkboard in the locker room, he once again stated that this game was going to be about toughness, resilience and having an advantage.

Texas did it from the jump — starting 7 of 7. Six of those shots came in the paint, where South Carolina was very good on defense. Judge Carlton was especially effective in leading the way in the first quarter, helping set the tone with 13 first-quarter points. “Did anyone, including me, think we were going to go 14 to nothing in this game, in that arena with this team?” Schiffer said. “You want to keep these kids in the moment. They’re going to run, and you have to be there to respond to them. That’s what was so impressive. By the end of the first quarter, I’m good. I just felt like my group was ready. They’ve really responded the last three weeks and they’re in a different zone now.”

Staley called a timeout after Texas opened on a 14-0 run but said she never thought to call it earlier because he wanted to see if her team could pick itself up and make some plays. Instead, when Texas made all of its shots, South Carolina had one field goal attempt and five turnovers. This was the longest home opener against the Gamecocks in the last eight years.

“They forced us to play a certain way. I mean turning the ball over is not something you can start a game like Texas and give them a lead,” Staley said.

South Carolina had to change its offensive game plan to try to get back into the game, limiting opportunities for guards Tanya Latson and Raven Johnson. Latson finished with just four points, while Johnson — after scoring a career-high 22 points on Saturday — had nine.

“Against a team like Texas, they’re going to take advantage of those bad starts, and there was no excuse for that,” Latson said. “We were tired, but we still had to go out and fight. They were tired, too. They came out with more energy, and they were the first to hit. We really had a mentality of, we’re tired. We didn’t come out with the mentality we needed.”

Staley and her players said they hope to use the loss as a teaching moment heading into the NCAA Tournament. But the loss means the Gamecocks could end up going to Sacramento as the top seed, while Texas will play closer to home in Fort Worth for the other regional site.

After all that Schaefer said about South Carolina having an advantage in the SEC Tournament by playing close to home, Texas could end up with the same advantage with a chance to reach the Final Four.

Schaefer said he’s not thinking this far ahead.

“I’m always a one-game-at-a-time guy, so I’m going to be very nervous about the first-round game,” Schaefer said. “After that, I will go wherever they send me. I will take this team to Timbuktu.

“It would be great to be able to stay here just for our fans. I think they would really jump at the opportunity to follow us, but I’m not going to go down that road right now. Our kids, what they’ve done all season, the resume speaks for itself.”