Tag: South Carolina

SEC Tournament: South Carolina eliminates Lady Vols on last-second shot

SEC Tournament: South Carolina eliminates Lady Vols on last-second shot

No. 1 seed South Carolina (31-0, 16-0 SEC) defeated No. 5 seed Tennessee (19-12, 10-6 SEC), 74-73, Saturday in the SEC Tournament semifinals at Bon Secours Wellness Arena in Greenville, South Carolina.

The Gamecocks scored the first 13 points of the contest and led, 36-23, at halftime.

Tennessee rallied from a 23-point deficit and led, 73-71, after Rickea Jackson converted a field goal. South Carolina won on a three-point attempt by Kamilla Cardoso, the SEC Defensive Player of the Year, as time expired.

It was the first career three-point field goal for Cardoso. She finished with 13 points for the Gamecocks.

Jackson totaled 22 points, nine rebounds and eight assists, while Jewel Spear recorded 21 points, four rebounds and one steal.

No. 22 South Carolina defeats No. 16 Lady Vols

No. 22 South Carolina tennis defeats No. 16 Lady Vols.

No. 22 South Carolina (9-3, 1-2 SEC) defeated No. 16 Tennessee (10-3, 2-1 SEC), 4-3, on Friday at Carolina Tennis Center in Columbia, South Carolina.

“South Carolina came out swinging freely and they played very well from start to finish,” Tennessee head coach Alison Ojeda said. “Tonight’s loss hurts pretty badly because we didn’t feel like we were our toughest, and as a competitor, you never want to leave the court feeling that way.

“Good news, we get another opportunity on Sunday to go out and give it everything we have. I’ve been a part of a lot of great teams in my 26 years in college tennis, but there is something special about this squad that stands out daily.”

Tennessee-South Carolina tennis results

Singles

1. #27 Sofia Cabezas (TENN) def. #8 Ayana Akli (SC) 6-2, 6-4

2. #10 Sarah Hamner (SC) def. Elza Tomase (TENN) 6-3, 6-4

3. #125 Shahar Biran (SC) def. Alana Wolfberg (TENN) 6-1, 6-2

4. #121 Catherine Aulia (TENN) def. Misa Malkin (SC) 7-6 (8-6), 6-1

5. Elise Mills (SC) def. Esther Adeshina (TENN) 3-6, 6-0, 6-1

6. Olympe Lancelot (SC) def. Lauren Anzalotta (TENN) 2-6, 6-3, 6-4

Order of finish: (3,2,1,5,4,6)

Doubles

1. #57 Sofia Cabezas/Elza Tomase (TENN) def. #41 Ayana Akli/Sarah Hamner (SC) 7-5

2. #51 Esther Adeshina/Alana Wolfberg (TENN) def. Shahar Biran/Elise Mills (SC) 7-5

3. Misa Malkin/Olympe Lancelot (SC) def. Catherine Aulia/Lauren Anzalotta (TENN) 6-3

Order of finish: (3,1,2)

Rick Barnes discusses winning 2024 SEC title

Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes discusses winning 2024 SEC title.

No. 4 Tennessee (24-6, 14-3 SEC) won the 2024 Southeastern Conference championship outright on Wednesday.

The Vols defeated No. 16 South Carolina (24-6, 12-5 SEC), 66-59, on Wednesday at Colonial Life Arena in Columbia, South Carolina.

Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes discussed winning the SEC regular-season championship.

“My first thoughts are, I thank the good Lord for giving me the opportunity to be around a group of guys like this,” Barnes said. “I truly have enjoyed being with them every day. On days when I was probably a little bit upset with them, I realized there is something special about them. Because I felt they had my same feeling, they were disappointed when I was disappointed, they knew that we needed to get better.

“When you have a group of guys, especially Santi (Vescovi) and Josiah (James), who were with us trying to get this thing back on track five years ago, going through the Covid, going through everything, just so much respect for them. Then, Z (Zakai Zeigler) coming in, Jahmai (Mashack) and Jonas (Aidoo), all that group. It’s not easy to win a championship, it’s not. For them to do it, and it was something they set their sights on. For them to come and do it the way we had to do it, on the road with this finishing schedule, I think it speaks volumes about them.”

PHOTOS: Tennessee basketball wins 2024 SEC championship

Jeff Blake-USA TODAY Sports

PHOTOS: Vols win 2024 SEC regular-season basketball championship

PHOTOS: Vols win 2024 SEC regular-season basketball championship

No. 4 Tennessee (24-6, 14-3 SEC) defeated No. 16 South Carolina (24-6, 12-5 SEC), 66-59, on Wednesday at Colonial Life Arena in Columbia, South Carolina.

The Vols won the 2024 Southeastern Conference championship.

Tennessee has won six outright regular-season SEC championships: 1935-36, 1940-41, 1942-43, 1966-67, 2007-08 and 2023-24.

“My first thoughts are, I thank the good Lord for giving me the opportunity to be around a group of guys like this,” Tennessee head coach Rock Barnes said. “I truly have enjoyed being with them every day. On days when I was probably a little bit upset with them, I realized there is something special about them. Because I felt they had my same feeling, they were disappointed when I was disappointed, they knew that we needed to get better.”

Below are photos from Tennessee’s championship win at South Carolina on Wednesday.

Tennessee basketball wins 2024 SEC regular-season championship

Tennessee basketball defeats South Carolina and wins the 2024 SEC regular-season championship.

No. 4 Tennessee (24-6, 14-3 SEC) defeated No. 16 South Carolina (24-6, 12-5 SEC), 66-59, on Wednesday at Colonial Life Arena in Columbia, South Carolina.

The Vols won the 2024 Southeastern Conference championship.

Tennessee’s Dalton Knecht led all scorers with 26 points. He converted 9-of-23 field goal attempts, 5-of-11 three-point attempts and 3-for-3 free throw attempts.

Knecht also recorded three rebounds and one assist.

Jonas Aidoo (14) and Zakai Zeigler (13) also scored 10-plus points for the Vols.

Meechi Johnson led South Carolina in scoring with 18 points.

Tennessee will conclude regular-season play on Saturday against Kentucky at Food City Center. Tipoff between the Vols and Wildcats is slated for 4 p.m. EST and will be televised by CBS.

Jeff Blake-USA TODAY Sports

Lady Vols lose regular-season finale at South Carolina

Tennessee falls to No. 1 and undefeated South Carolina in regular-season finale.

No. 1 South Carolina (29-0, 16-0 SEC) defeated Tennessee (17-11, 10-6 SEC), 76-68, Sunday in the regular-season finale for both schools at Colonial Life Arena in Columbia, South Carolina.

The Gamecocks led, 40-32, at halftime.

Rickea Jackson scored a game-high 29 points for the Lady Vols. She also totaled eight rebounds, three blocks, two assists and one steal. Jackson was one of three Tennessee players to score 10-plus points in the contest.

Jasmine Powell and Jewel Spear scored 12 points each for Tennessee.

Tennessee will next play in the SEC Tournament on Thursday against the winner of Wednesday’s first-round game between No. 12 seed Georgia and No. 13 Kentucky.

Tennessee is the No. 5 seed and is scheduled to play at 2:10 p.m. EST in Greenville, South Carolina.

The Lady Vols defeated Georgia, 95-73, on Feb. 1. Tennessee also defeated the Wildcats, 87-69, on Jan. 7.

Notre Dame to wear green for big home game vs. Virginia Tech

Will these work?

With Notre Dame three games back of Virginia Tech in the ACC, the hopes for repeating as ACC regular-season champions have been dashed. But an Irish victory over the red-hot Hokies would do wonders for their NCAA Tournament seeding, and they seem to recognize that. One day before their biggest game of the season, they announced they’ll be wearing green jerseys for the occasion at Purcell Pavilion:

The Hokies have won 10 straight and would clinch the outright ACC title by beating the Irish. So a lot will be on the line for both teams Thursday in South Bend.

We know the football team has brought out green jerseys on several occasions when a game has had high stakes, but it typically hasn’t ended well in those cases. The women’s basketball team wore green when it lost to top-ranked South Carolina during its season opener in Paris. Here’s hoping that’s not a sign that what’s true in football carries over to women’s basketball.

Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes, and opinions.

Follow Geoffrey on Twitter: @gfclark89

Former Wisconsin Badgers coach on late-season Naismith watch list

Former Badgers coach on Late Season Naismith Watchlist

The late-season watch list for the Naismith Men’s College Coach of the Year was released Friday and former Wisconsin assistant coach and current South Carolina head coach Lamont Paris was included on the list.

Paris has his group out to an impressive 22-5 overall record this season and No. 20 rank in the AP Poll. The former Badger is in his second season as the Gamecocks’ head coach, making a great leap after an 11-21 season in 2022-2023.

He spent eight seasons as an assistant coach in Madison under Bo Ryan and Greg Gard from 2010-2017 before leaving in 2018 to become the head coach at Chattanooga, his last stop before South Carolina.

Some other names on the Naismith watch list include UConn’s Dan Hurley, Alabama’s Nate Oats, Iowa State’s T.J. Otzelberger, Purdue’s Matt Painter and Houston’s Kelvin Sampson.

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Trapped deer gets stuck in Old Navy, breaks glass to escape

Watch this critter break free.

Deer are one of the most common animals in the United States. North America is home to about 35 million of these critters, and several states claim the deer as their representative animal. Most Americans have probably seen a deer up close. Backyard deer sightings aren’t uncommon for many people, especially those who live on the East Coast.

What is uncommon is seeing a deer trapped inside an Old Navy store. On February 15, this strange sight is exactly what several shoppers in Greenville, South Carolina, witnessed. According to local news outlet WYFF 4, a troubled deer was seen frantically trying to escape from an Old Navy at Greenville’s Cherrydale Point Plaza.

See the deer make its escape in the video below. As a warning for all animal lovers out there, this video does contain images of an injured animal in distress.

Note: The featured image is a stock photo used to illustrate the story.

South Carolina defeats Lady Vols, remain undefeated

South Carolina defeats the Lady Vols and remain undefeated.

No. 1 South Carolina (24-0, 11-0 SEC) defeated Tennessee (15-8, 8-3 SEC), 66-55, on Thursday at Food City Center.

Rankings reflect the USA TODAY Sports women’s basketball coaches poll.

Rickea Jackson led the Lady Vols in scoring with 19 points. She converted 8-of-20 field goal attempts, 1-of-4 three-point attempts and 2-of-2 free throw attempts.

Kamill Cardoso led South Carolina with 18 points.

Jasmine Powell led the Lady Vols with eight rebounds, while Jackson was Tennessee’s leader in assists with three.

Tennessee still leads the all time series versus South Carolina, 51-14. The Lady Vols are 23-5 in Knoxville, 21-4 in Columbia and 7-5 at neutral sites versus South Carolina in the all time series.

PHOTOS: A look at Kellie Harper through the years

Saul Young/USA TODAY Network