No. 5 South Carolina women beat Vanderbilt 84-63 in SEC Tournament quarterfinals
South Carolina guard MiLaysia Fulwiley (12) shoots during an NCAA college basketball game against Vanderbilt in the quarterfinals of the Southeastern Conference tournament, Friday, March 7, 2025, in Greenville, S.C. (AP Photo/David Yeazell)[ASSOCIATED PRESS/David Yeazell]
GREENVILLE, S.C. (AP) — Chloe Kitts had 25 points and 10 rebounds and No. 5 South Carolina held off a furious second-half rally from Vanderbilt to win 84-63 on Friday in the Southeastern Conference Tournament quarterfinals.
MiLaysia Fulwiley scored 15 off the bench and Sania Feagin added 13 points for South Carolina (28-3), which will face No. 10 Oklahoma, a 69-65 winner over 12th-ranked Kentucky, in Saturday’s semifinals.
Coach Dawn Staley’s Gamecocks, the top seed, appeared plenty motivated to win a third straight SEC Tournament title. They came out of the gates strong, shooting a blistering 67% from the field in the first half to build a 48-23 lead at the break.
But the Commodores, behind stars Mikayla Blakes and Khamil Pierre, battled back to cut the lead to five with 4:22 left. The Gamecocks regrouped and outscored the Commodores 16-0 the rest of the way.
Vanderbilt (22-10), which knocked off 18th-ranked Tennessee 84-76 on Thursday to reach the quarterfinals, got 20 points from Blakes and 17 from Pierre.
South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley talks with forward Chloe Kitts (21) during an NCAA college basketball game against Vanderbilt in the quarterfinals of the Southeastern Conference tournament, Friday, March 7, 2025, in Greenville, S.C. (AP Photo/David Yeazell)
Photo: ASSOCIATED PRESS/David Yeazell
Vanderbilt: Was outscored 58-28 in the paint and outrebounded 42-28.
South Carolina: The Gamecocks’ depth proved to be too much for Vanderbilt, with their bench outscoring the Commodores’ reserves 33-4.
Fulwiley provided a huge momentum swing at the end of the first quarter when she came up with a defensive rebound and beat two defenders down the floor for a fast-break layup with 16 seconds left, then came up with a steal and pulled up from beyond the 3-point arc to beat the buzzer. That gave the Gamecocks a 24-15 lead and ignited a 17-2 run.
South Carolina finished the game on a 16-0 run.
Vanderbilt will await its seed in the NCAA Tournament.
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