GREENVILLE, S.C. – No. 5 seed Tennessee overcame a 23-point first-half deficit and took a two-point lead with 24 seconds remaining before South Carolina’s Kamilla Cardoso banked-in a three-pointer as time expired to give the top-seeded and No. 1-ranked Gamecocks a 74-73 win on Saturday night in the semifinals of the SEC Tournament at Bon Secours Wellness Arena.
The Lady Vols, who have fallen to the undefeated USC squad by scores of 11, eight and now one over the past 24 days, including two games in the past week, were a last-second heart-breaker away from advancing to their second SEC Tournament championship game in as many years and knocking off their first No. 1 team since 2005.
Fifth-year senior Rickea Jackson, who flirted with a triple-double for UT (19-12), finished with 22 points, nine rebounds and a career-high eight assists. Senior guard Jewel Spear was right behind her with 21, as the duo put up 20+ points in back-to-back games in the league tourney.
The Gamecocks (31-0) were led by 13 points from Cardoso and reserve guard MiLaysia Fulwiley, while Raven Johnson tossed in 11.
South Carolina opened up a 10-0 lead over the first five-plus minutes with all five starters scoring as Tennessee suffered through a 0-for-8 shooting drought into the 4:18 media timeout. Jackson finally broke the ice for the Lady Vols with a three-pointer with 2:51 remaining in the quarter to make it 13-3 Gamecocks. Spear then connected from long range 17 seconds later to cut the gap to 15-6 with 2:24 to go. USC would hit the final four points of the period to clutch a 19-6 advantage after one.
A 4-0 burst by South Carolina at the outset of the second stanza forced UT to take a quick timeout, trailing 23-6 with 8:32 remaining. Jillian Hollingshead took a lob inside and scored off the glass to make it 23-8 with 8:13 to go. USC scored six more before Spear answered with a layup to make it 29-10 with 5:29 left in the half. After the Gamecocks padded the lead to 23, 35-12, at the 3:11 mark, Tennessee went to work chipping away at the deficit. A pair of inside buckets by Tamari Key and Karoline Striplin cut the gap to 19, 35-16, with 2:07 left. UT would continue an 11-1 half-closing run, getting a pair of free throws from Striplin at the 1:16 mark, a Spear three-pointer with 57 seconds on the clock and two charity tosses from Jasmine Powell with five ticks left to make it a 13-point deficit at the half at 36-23.
Tennessee continued its push at the start of the second half, getting a pair of Jackson jumpers and two Spear free throws to trim the gap to nine, 39-30, with 6:56 to go. Another surge came courtesy of a Jackson jumper, followed by a Sara Puckett corner three to whittle the deficit to seven, 42-35, with 5:57 remaining. Buckets by Cardoso and Chloe Kitts, however, pushed the Gamecock lead back to 11, 46-35, before the teams headed to the 4:54 media timeout. After getting fouled on a three-pointer attempt just before that break, Spear promptly stepped to the line after the media stoppage and nailed all three tries to pull UT back within eight, 46-38. After a four-point Gamecock response set the deficit back to 12, 50-38, a Spear jumper in the lane and a three from Tess Darby on the wing reeled the Gamecocks back within nine, 54-45, at the 1:43 mark. A Jackson jumper on the break cut it to eight, 56-48, with 50 ticks left, but South Carolina got a Kitts bucket and a pair of free throws by Fulwiley just before the buzzer to take a 60-48 lead into the fourth.
The Lady Vols twice cut the margin to six early in the final frame, getting a trio of free throws from Puckett after being fouled on a three-point attempt to make it 60-54 with 8:32 to go. Then a Key bucket in the paint with 7:54 remaining cut it to 62-56. UT wasn’t done, trimming it to three on a Powell three-ball with 6:33 on the clock and whittling it to two on a Jackson layup by the 5:04 mark, 65-63, to force a South Carolina timeout. Key then brought her team all the way back, knotting the score at 65 with a bucket in the paint at the 4:12 mark. Over the next two and a half minutes, the teams exchanged points, with Spear twice tying the game with pairs of free throws with 3:04 and 2:26 remaining. Jackson then gave the Big Orange their fourth tie, 71-71, with 1:33 on the board and lifted Tennessee into the lead, 73-71, with 24 seconds left. After UT fouled Fulwiley with a second left, USC inbounded the ball on the sideline on its end of the court. The pass triggered by Johnson ended up finding Cardoso at the top of the key, and her desperation shot left her hands before the buzzer sounded and found its target.
UP NEXT: Tennessee will return to Knoxville on Sunday and await the NCAA Selection Show. It will be televised next Sunday, March 17, at 8 p.m. ET on ESPN.
