South Carolina center Kamilla Cardoso, left, battles with LSU’s Angel Reese during the Southeastern Conference championship game Sunday in Greenville, S.C. Top-ranked South Carolina won, 79-72. Chris Carlson/Associated Press
GREENVILLE, S.C. — MiLaysia Fulwiley scored a career-high 24 points, including four 3-pointers, as No. 1 South Carolina held off No. 8 LSU 79-72 to win the Southeastern Conference tournament title Sunday, a victory marred by a fourth-quarter fight that led to Gamecocks leading scorer and rebounder Kamilla Cardoso being ejected.
South Carolina (32-0) was ahead 73-66 when Fulwiley stole the ball from Flau’jae Johnson, who wrapped her up and was called for a foul. Johnson then bumped South Carolina’s Ashlyn Watkins, and the 6-foot-7 Cardoso rushed and pushed the 5-10 Johnson the ground. Players from both benches rushed toward them.
Cardoso and three of her teammates were ejected. Two LSU players who came off the bench were also sent off.
Cardoso can be expected to miss time in the NCAA Tournament for her actions. The Gamecocks enter March Madness as the clear-cut No. 1 seed and the only undefeated team left in Division I, men or women. And they did it against the defending national champion Tigers and SEC player of the year Angel Reese.
It was South Carolina’s eighth tournament crown in the last 10 seasons and its 16th straight win over LSU (28-5).
Aneesah Morrow led LSU with 19 points. Reese had 15 points and 13 rebounds.
(5) USC 74, (2) STANFORD 61: McKenzie Forbes scored 26 points and the Trojans (26-5) beat the Cardinal to win the Pac-12 championship in Las Vegas.
The Trojans played in the championship game for the first time since 2014, when they also defeated Stanford. That was their only other Pac-12 tournament title.
Cameron Brink led Stanford with 19 points.
(3) IOWA 94, NEBRASKA 89: Caitlin Clark overcame a cold start to score 30 of her 34 points after halftime and help the Hawkeyes (29-4) rally past the Cornhuskers (22-11) in Minneapolis to win a third straight Big Ten tournament title.
Hannah Stuelke added 25 points and nine rebounds for the Hawkeyes, who trailed by 13 points late in the first half.
Clark missed all nine of her 3-point attempts in the first half and finished 5 of 17 from deep, but she had 12 assists and hit a go-ahead 3-pointer with 51 seconds left in OT.
(9) UCONN 58, MARQUETTE 29: Paige Bueckers scored 27 points and grabbed 12 rebounds to lead the shorthanded Huskies (28-5) over the Golden Eagles (23-8) in the Big East semifinals at Uncasville, Connecticut.
Ice Brady, making just her second start, added 10 points for UConn, which had just seven available players after losing star center Aaliyah Edwards to a facial injury after she was struck in the nose in the win over Providence on Saturday.
It’s not clear when Edwards might return. The Huskies already have five players out for the season because of injuries.
UConn will play for the title Monday against Georgetown, which upset No. 21 Creighton, 55-46.
(14) NOTRE DAME 55, (10) NORTH CAROLINA STATE 51: Star freshman Hannah Hildalgo had 22 points – including a pair of baskets for the lead down the stretch – as the Fighting Irish (26-6) held off the Wolfpack (27-6) in the Atlantic Coast Conference championship game in Greensboro, North Carolina.
It marked the Irish’s first ACC title in five years.
Hildalgo finished with six rebounds and six assists and was named the tournament’s most valuable player. Maddy Westbeld added 16 points. Anna DeWolfe of Cumberland did not score.
SOUTHERN MAINE CC 64, FIVE TOWNS COLLEGE 55: Maddy York scored 20 of her 30 points in the fourth quarter on five 3-pointers as the eighth-seeded SeaWolves (21-8) pulled away from ninth-seeded Five Towns College (12-7) in the opening round of the United States Collegiate Athletic Association Division II Small College national tournament in Petersburg, Virginia.
York finished with seven 3-pointers. She accounted for all but two of her team’s points in the fourth quarter, which begin with the score tied at 44.
Ember Hastings added 10 points. Hope Butler had 14 rebounds, followed by Aija Andrews with 12 and Jenna Philbrook with 10.
SMCC advances to play top-seeded Johnson & Wales-Charlotte on Monday.
MEN’S BASKETBALL
(3) PURDUE 78, WISCONSIN 70: Zach Edey had 25 points and 14 rebounds in his home finale, becoming the first Big Ten player to exceed 2,200 career points and 1,200 rebounds, and the Boilermakers (28-3, 17-3) beat the Badgers (19-12, 11-9) in West Lafayette, Indiana.
Fletcher Loyer added 15 points and Braden Smith had 10 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds for Purdue.
PENN STATE WILKES-BARRE 80, SOUTHERN MAINE CC 49: The seventh-seeded SeaWolves (21-9) fell behind 9-1 in the first nine minutes and never recovered against 10th-seeded Penn State Wilkes Barre in the opening round of the United States Collegiate Athletic Association Division II Small College national tournament in Petersburg, Virginia.
Luke Briggs led SMCC with 18 points, followed by Thomas Martinotti with 10 and Jay Hawkes with nine.
SMCC will play Penn State Mont Alto in a consolation bracket game on Monday.
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