FINAL: Cardoso's Buzzer-Beating Three Sends Gamecocks To The SEC Finals!
Coming into Saturday afternoon, the South Carolina Gamecocks took the Tennessee Lady Volunteers for a chance to play for their eighth SEC Tournament Title game. It was a bout that, just like the previous two meetings, came down to the final few minutes, or in this case, the final few seconds.
Unlike yesterday's quarterfinal matchup against the Texas A&M Aggies, South Carolina would get off to a near perfect start, scoring each of the game's first 13 points through their conscious effort to attack the paint. On the defensive end, the Gamecocks held Volunteers to just six points in the first quarter, a season low for Tennessee in that regard.
In the second quarter, Dawn's squad continued to keep their foot on the proverbial gas pedal, scoring eight points off of Tennessee turnovers, and continuing to drive to the basket, with freshmen guards Tessa Johnson and MiLaysia Fulwiley leading the team in scoring with 6 and 5 points, respectively. However, just when it looked like Carolina was about to put the game out of reach early, the Lady Volunteers would surge back, going on an 11-1 run to end the first half and cutting the Gamecocks lead down to just 13 points.
In the third quarter, Tennessee wouldn't slow down outscoring South Carolina 25-24 behind Rickea Jackson's 12 points. The Gamecocks had multiple defensive breakdowns in the period which allowed the Volunteers to take multiple wide-open shots and continue to chip away at the lead. Fast forward to the 4:12 mark in the fourth quarter, and Tennessee tied the game at 65 points a piece. With the game tied at 71 with 56 seconds left and counting, Lady Vols star Rickea Jackson hit a putback to give her team a two-point lead.
On the ensuing possession, Raven Johnson would be left wide-open behind the three-point line, but missed the shot, with Tennessee's Jasmine Powell getting the rebound and subsequently being fouled with three seconds left. Powell would then shockingly miss both free throw attempts despite coming into the game as a 79.1 percent free-throw shooter, and Fulwiley would get the rebound, run down the bottom sideline and subsequently fouled by Tennessee, who had fouls to give at this point. With 1.1 seconds left, Raven Johnson would throw the ball in to Kamilla Cardoso, who was left all alone at the top of the key, shot the ball and banked it in for her first career three-pointer, give the Gamecocks an improbable win after blowing a 23-point lead.
South Carolina will face the winner of the other semifinal matchup between LSU and Ole Miss tomorrow afternoon.
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