USC Women Win Third Straight SEC Title

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Tiffany Mitchell scored 19 points and No. 3 South Carolina wrapped up its third straight Southeastern Conference title with a 61-51 victory over Georgia on Thursday night.

The Gamecocks (25-1, 13-0 SEC) had earned a share of the league crown last Monday night with a 62-56 win at Tennessee. This victory clinched it outright and kept South Carolina on track, with three games remaining, for a perfect run through the SEC.

Not that it was easy.

The Lady Bulldogs (19-7, 7-6) are the SEC’s top defensive team and kept the high-scoring Gamecocks on their heels most of the contest.

Georgia cut a 16-point deficit to 50-45 on Marjorie Butler’s basket with 2:24 remaining. But Mitchell answered with a jumper and the Lady Bulldogs could not respond.

A’ja Wilson had 16 points, nine rebounds and two blocks for the Gamecocks.

Tiaria Griffin led Georgia with 22 points and eight rebounds.

Butler was the only other double-figure scorer for the Lady Bulldogs with 12 points as they saw their five-game winning streak snapped.

Khadijah Sessions scored 12 points, including a 30-footer as time ran out in the second quarter. The senior point guard also had a career-best six steals.

South Carolina won its 25th straight SEC game at home, a streak that goes back to the 2013 season.

The Gamecocks posed with the championship trophy at midcourt while fans chanted “S-E-C, S-E-C.”

The game matched up the SEC’s top scoring team in South Carolina against its No. 1 defense in Georgia. Defense, on both sides, won out the first two quarters as neither team found an offensive rhythm.

The Lady Bulldogs moved in front 11-10 on Merritt Hempe’s short jumper to start second quarter. Then Georgia went ice cold, missing 11 of its final 12 shots of the period to trail 27-13.

Sessions closed the quarter in style once more, canning a 30-foot 3-pointer as time ran out. Two weeks ago, Sessions hit a 70-footer as the third-quarter buzzer sounded in a win over Kentucky.

Shacobia Barbee, Georgia’s second-leading scorer at 12.8 points a game, finished 1-of-11 shooting with 3 points.

Georgia finished with its lowest first-half point total of the season.

TIP INS

Georgia: The Lady Bulldogs have played strongly on the road this season. They won at Vanderbilt for the first time since 2006 and at LSU for the first time since 2001. They’ve also beaten then-20th-ranked Florida and then-21st-ranked Missouri on the road.

South Carolina: The Gamecocks lead the SEC in several offensive categories with 73.2 points per game, a 14.9-point average margin of victory, plus field goal percentage and 3-point shooting percentage.

UP NEXT

Georgia plays No. 22 Florida at home Sunday.

South Carolina plays at Alabama on Monday night.