The Lady Longhorns 15-game winning streak came to a crashing end on Sunday in the SEC Tournament Championship Game. Texas was routed 64-45 by South Carolina in the rubber match of the season series between the two schools.
UT lost to South Carolina 67-50 on Jan. 12 on the road, but avenged that defeat last month with a 66-62 victory back at Moody. Texas didn’t come close in the third game.
Tournament MVP Chloe Kitts finished with 15 points and nine rebounds, Tessa Johnson added 14 points as South Carolina completed a dominant three-day run in Greenville to win its third straight Southeastern Conference Tournament championship and ninth title in the last 11 years under head coach Dawn Staley.
“They are young people that come down here and perform to a high standard every single time they step on the floor and for that I am super proud of them,” Staley said.
With the win over No. 1 Texas, Gamecocks emphatically staked their claim to a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament, which starts next week. The Gamecocks won their three tournament games by 21, 18 and 19 points with the last two coming against newcomers No. 10 Oklahoma and Texas.
South Carolina never trailed and blew the game open with a 19-2 run to start the second quarter. The Gamecocks road its stifling defense the rest of the way. “I took two timeouts in the second quarter and we just could not stop (their momentum),” Texas coach Vic Schaefer said.
Staley improved to 5-0 against Schaefer in the SEC title games, although the previous four came when he coached at Mississippi State.
This article originally appeared on Longhorns Wire: Texas women’s basketball dominated by South Carolina in SEC title game
