NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Dre'una Edwards hit a 3-pointer from the top of the key with 4.2 seconds left, and the Kentucky Wildcats rallied from 15 points down to upset top-ranked South Carolina 64-62 on Sunday to win their first Southeastern Conference women's tournament championship since 1982.
Kentucky hadn't even reached this game since 2014. These seventh-seeded Wildcats (19-11) won their 10th straight game with this the biggest yet after knocking off sixth-ranked LSU and No. 18 Tennessee to get to this championship.
The Wildcats not only snapped South Carolina's 18-game winning streak this season, they also ended the Gamecocks' search for a third straight SEC tournament title for the regular season champs with Kentucky's fourth win in as many days.
South Carolina (28-2) led 45-30 with 4:45 left in the third quarter seemingly minutes away from cutting down the nets again. But the Gamecocks didn't score after Aliyah Boston's jumper with 5:04 remained that put them up 62-53.
The Wildcats closed the game on an 11-0 run. Rhyne Howard lost the ball with no foul called when she went down in the lane with 18.3 seconds left, giving the ball back to South Carolina. Zia Cooke missed both free throws with 16.4 seconds left to set up the final shot.
After Kentucky took the lead, Destanni Henderson threw up the ball from just past mid-court and hit just right of the rim, setting off a wild celebration by Kentucky.
Edwards finished with 27 points, 12 in the fourth quarter including three 3s including the game-winner. Howard finished with 18 points.
South Carolina should still go into the NCAA Tournament as the No. 1 overall seed.
Boston posted her 24th straight double-double with 21 points and 11 rebounds. Cooke finished with 15 points.
Kentucky didn’t look like a team playing its fourth game in as many days. Howard split a pair of free throws to put Kentucky up 18-17 with 1:19 left, and that was the Wildcats' only lead until Edwards' 3 for the win.
South Carolina led 21-18 after the first and led 30-21 at halftime after holding Kentucky to three points in the second. The Gamecocks were up 55-43 at the end of the third.
BIG PICTURE
Kentucky: Kentucky set a program record making 12 3-pointers in its semifinal upset of 18th-ranked Tennessee, shooting 50% from beyond the arc. Against the nation’s fourth-stingiest scoring defense, the Wildcats finished 6 of 14 (42.9%) after knocking down 5 of 8 in the second half.
South Carolina: The Gamecocks had only a 32-26 edge in scoring in the paint even though they outrebounded Kentucky 44-32. They missed their final seven shots of the game.
MORE SEC HISTORY
A year ago, South Carolina coach Dawn Staley joined Georgia coach Joni Taylor as the first Black women to coach in a Power Five tournament championship. This time, Kyra Elzy in her second season at Kentucky joined Staley to make it two straight for the SEC and Elzy took home the title this time.