University of Tennessee Athletics
University of Tennessee
South Carolina
Lady Vols Drop SEC Final, 62-46, To SC
March 08, 2015 | Women's Basketball
March 8, 2015
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LITTLE ROCK, Ark. -- South Carolina captured its first SEC Tournament title as the #3 Gamecocks beat #5 Tennessee, 62-46, on Sunday at Verizon Arena. The Lady Vols (27-5) will await its seeding in the NCAA Tournament when the bracket is unveiled on March 16 at 7 p.m., on ESPN. The Gamecocks (30-2) likely assured themselves a top seed in the NCAAs.
Saturday's loss marked the first time Tennessee entered the SEC Tournament as the second seed and did not win the event. On nine previous occasions, the Lady Vols entered seeded second and went on to win the title. Tennessee is now 17-6 all-time in SEC Tournament championship games, making a record 23 appearances.
Sophomore Jordan Reynolds scored a career high with 17 points. She was Tennessee's only scorer to hit double-figures. Reynolds and Cierra Burdick were named to the SEC's All-Tournament Team.
South Carolina had four players score in double-figures, led by Tiffany Mitchell's 17 points. Aleighsa Welch (14), Khadijah Sessions (12) and A'ja Wilson (11) all scored 10-plus.
The Gamecocks' defense was stellar all afternoon, holding Tennessee to 33.3 from the floor including 26.7 in the decisive second half. The Lady Vols did not make a 3-pointer in the second half (0-of-4) after making four in the first half.
Up three at halftime thanks to an 8-0 run prior to intermission, the Gamecocks took control in the second half.
South Carolina outscored Tennessee 17-7 over the final seven minutes of the game to break open a 6-point lead of 45-39.
Welch's jumper with six minutes left gave the Gamecocks their first double-figure lead at 49-39. That would expanded to 18 in the game' final minutes as Tennessee's offense was thwarted.
South Carolina held a 29-26 lead at halftime scoring the final eight points of the half with Welch and A'ja Wilson combining for the game's eight points in the final four minutes.
The first half was back-and-forth, with 10 lead changes. The largest lead was five points, when Tennessee held a 26-21 advantage with four minutes to go in the half on a Burdick layup.
