South Carolina women's basketball stays perfect, wins SEC championship 74-58 vs. Tennessee

The SEC tournament championship trophy is coming back to Columbia for the seventh time in the last decade.

No. 1 South Carolina women's basketball (32-0) kept its perfect season alive with a 74-58 victory over 3-seed Tennessee (23-11) in the conference championship game Sunday at Bon Secours Wellness Arena in Greenville. The win was redemption for the Gamecocks' upperclassmen who were upset in the 2022 title game by a red-hot Kentucky team.

Though the Lady Vols were coming off of a huge comeback win over LSU in the semifinals, South Carolina never let them build momentum. They led wire-to-wire behind 24 points from senior guard Zia Cooke. It was her seventh game of the season with 20-plus points.

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Aliyah Boston dominates first quarter

It took South Carolina star Aliyah Boston less than eight minutes to score in double-digits. She put up 10 points before the first media timeout shooting 5-of-5 from the field, and though the senior didn't quite reach a double-double, she came close with 18 points and seven rebounds.

Boston, the SEC player of the year, was particularly efficient at the free-throw line, going 6-of-6. She also shot 54.5% from the field.

Gamecocks exploit offensive mistakes

South Carolina's nation-leading defense was on full display against Tennessee, holding the Lady Vols 19 points below their average of 77. The Gamecocks played an aggressive man defense to prey on Tennessee's turnover troubles, and they ultimately scored 15 points off of 11 Lady Vols turnovers.

A major disparity in fouls was also key for South Carolina: Tennessee took just two free throws in the entire first half, and the Gamecocks took advantage of 18 fouls by the Lady Vols shooting 20-of-24 at the line.

Big runs propel third-quarter explosion

Tennessee kept the game close through the first quarter and much of the second, trailing by just six at halftime. However, South Carolina opened up its largest lead of the game in the third behind a 7-0 run over two minutes and entered the fourth quarter up 55-42.

The Gamecocks also held Tennessee scoreless for more than four minutes during a 10-0 run in the second quarter, and the Lady Vols went without a field goal for six minutes in the third shooting 3-of-17 to South Carolina's 6-of-14. Star Tennessee guard Jordan Horston, who put up 14 points and five rebounds in the first half, was held to zero points in the third quarter and five in the second half.

This article originally appeared on Greenville News: South Carolina women's basketball beats Tennessee for SEC championship