The Perfect SCare 🤯
03/11/2024
By: Jeff Yoder
The Shot That Kept South Carolina’s Perfect Season In Tact (And Propelled Them to the SEC Title)
The perfect season lives on! Women’s No. 1 South Carolina (32-0) stayed undefeated through a volatile weekend in the SEC Tournament despite trailing in back-to-back games. The Gamecocks survived Tennessee in the semifinal on Saturday (74-73) thanks to a game-winning buzzer-beater from Kamilia Cardoso — her first 3 of the season! That shot kept SC perfect and put them in the finale against #8 LSU on Sunday, and sparks flew. A hard-fought game between two top-10 teams boiled over into a scuffle in the 4th quarter that got six players ejected. The Gamecocks held off Angel Reese (15 pts, 13 rebs) and the Tigers (79-72) thanks to Milaysia Fulwiley’s career-high 24-point performance in the final. Dawn Staley’s bunch won their 8th SEC crown in the last 11 seasons. After all that drama, South Carolina (32-0) is still perfect heading into the NCAA Tournament.
Watch: #1 SC Beats Tennessee on Cardoso’s Game-Winner (74-73)
Watch:Â #1 SC Staves Off Late Ejections, #8 LSU to Win SEC title (79-72)
Women’s Conference Tournaments
#3 Iowa Wins the Big Ten
#3 Iowa def. Nebraska (94-89, OT)
Caitlin Clark (34 points) and the Hawkeyes needed extra ball to take down Nebraska and claim the Big Ten title on Sunday. Clark was held to just four points in the first half before exploding for 30. She also broke Steph Curry’s NCAA record for most 3s in a single season the day before (163). The Hawkeyes likely locked down a 1-seed in the women’s NCAA Tournament by winning the Big Ten crown — their third straight.
#5 USC Wins the PAC-12
#5 USC def. #2 Stanford (74-61)
No team had a tougher weekend than USC in the PAC-12 gauntlet. The Trojans narrowly escaped Arizona in the quarterfinals (65-62) before needing double overtime to stave off #7 UCLA on Friday (80-70, 2OT) in a game where Juju Watkins poured in a 33-point double-double. In the finals, they outpaced #2 Stanford (74-61) and held Cameron Brink to just 19 points.
#14 Notre Dame Wins the ACC
#14 Notre Dame def. #10 NC State (55-51)
The Notre Dame women’s squad blitzed through the ACC over the weekend by taking down three ranked opponents in three straight days. The Irish beat #24 Louisville (77-68) and steamrolled #11 Virginia Tech (82-53) before clamping down #10 NC State in the finale (55-51). The Wolfpack had two quarters with single-digit scoring in the final.
Our Picks for Women’s 1-Seeds (NCAA)
South Carolina, Iowa, USC & Stanford
*Big 12 & Big East Women’s Tournaments Continue This Week
(See Today’s Must-Watch List)
NCAA Men’s Basketball (Regular-Season)
#1 Houston def. #14 Kansas (76-46)
#2 UConn def. Providence (74-60)
#3 Purdue def. Wisconsin (78-70)
#15 Kentucky def. #4 Tennessee (85-81)
Kansas State def. #6 Iowa State (65-58)
#7 North Carolina def. #9 Duke (84-79)
Photo: Eakin Howard / Getty Images