By RON HIGGINS, Journal Sports
GREENVILLE, S.C. — No. 1 and unbeaten South Carolina, playing on a “neutral” court 103 miles from its campus, beat No. 8 LSU for the 16th straight time Sunday afternoon.
But the Tigers, 79-72 SEC tournament championship game losers in Greenville’s Bon Secours Arena, didn’t go down without a fight.
Literally.
A bench-clearing altercation with 2:08 left to play and South Carolina leading 73-66 resulted in Gamecocks’ center Kamilla Cardoso being ejected for fighting along with the ejection of all bench players for both teams.
Both squads each finished the game with five available players.
“I’ve never been a part of a game like that,” said LSU forward Angel Reese, who had 15 points and 13 rebounds. “Two heavy hitters, we gonna battle.
“We’re not scared of South Carolina. I’m going to repeat that. We’re not scared of South Carolina. A lot of people are scared of them. We battled and battled and battled until the end. We fought with five, maybe six healthy players if that.”
The Tigers cut the Gamecocks’ lead to 75-70 with 1:57 left on a Reese layup. LSU had a chance to make it a one-possession game with 1:17 remaining but freshman Mikaylah Williams missed a layup.
South Carolina (32-0) clinched the victory with four straight throws and Reese added a layup before the final buzzer to end an extremely physical game that finally escalated into a fight that the Gamecocks started and ended.
South Carolina’s Bree Hall and Ashlyn Watkins taunted LSU’s Flau’jae Johnson after her intentional foul of freshman Milaysia Fulwiley, who scored a game-high 24 points and won the tourney Most Valuable Player honors.
Johnson, walking to her bench, shoved aside Watkins when she ran up to her face running her mouth. The 6-7 Cardoso brushed past an official and violently shoved the 5-10 Johnson to the floor, lighting the fuse.
As Johnson immediately got back on her feet, Johnson’s brother came out of the stands, jumping over the scorer’s table. A policeman grabbed him and he was reportedly retained.
Then, for the next 20 minutes, the officiating crew of Pulani Spurlock-Welsh, Angelica Suffren, and Kevin Pethtel viewed a courtside video monitor to sort through the damage and assess fouls.
The result was Johnson being called for an intentional foul, Cardoso was ejected and the LSU and South Carolina benches were assessed technical fouls with every player who left the bench ejected and sent to the locker room.
“No one wants to be a part of that,” LSU coach Kim Mulkey said. “No one wants to see that ugliness. But I can tell you this: I wish she (Cardoso) would have pushed Angel Reese. You’re (Cardoso) 6-8 (actually 6-7). Don’t push somebody that little. That was uncalled for, in my opinion. Let those two girls that were jawing, let them go at it.”
South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley said both teams did not handle the situation well and added LSU’s Johnson apologized to her after the game.
“She said she’s not that type of player. . .she’s a really good person,” Staley said. “I’ll take responsibility for what happened from our side of it.”
Cardoso, whose ejection also earned her a suspension for South Carolina’s first NCAA Tournament game in a couple of weeks, apologized afterward on Twitter.
“My behavior was not representative of who I am as a person or the South Carolina program, and I deeply regret any discomfort or inconvenience it may have caused,” Cardoso said. “I take full responsibility for my actions and assure you that I am committed to conducting myself with the utmost respect and sportsmanship in the future.”
The fight overshadowed LSU’s gritty comeback.
Though the Tigers never led after Fulwiley’s layup with 1:28 left in the first quarter edged the Gamecocks ahead 15-14, LSU fought back from a 10-point deficit in the fourth quarter to reduce South Carolina’s lead to a single point.
Five straight Hailey Van Lith points started a 9-0 LSU run in a 2:14 span that left the Tigers trailing the Gamecocks 67-66 with 4:36 left.
South Carolina responded with 6 straight points, leading to the explosion of emotions that finally erupted after almost four quarters of extremely physical play and trash-talking that the officials failed to control.
“Do you realize there was only one foul called on each team with two minutes to play in the fourth quarter?” Mulkey said. “Are you kidding me? That might have created some of that.
“Not the way we play, we gonna foul your ass. Not the way they play, they’re going to foul your ass. But you only blew that whistle one time? Think about that now.”
Because LSU starting point guard Last-Tear Poa was back at the team hotel recovering from the concussion she suffered late in the Tigers’ Saturday night semifinal win over Ole Miss, Mulkey decided to play Williams.
Williams, the Bossier City native and former Parkway star who was named the SEC Freshman of the Year early last week, had sat out three straight games nursing a sore foot.
Williams gave it her best but scored just 2 points on 1 of 5 shooting and looked like someone who hadn’t played in a game since Feb. 29.
Reese and Annesah Morrow, who had a team-high 19 points and 10 rebounds, led the charge against the Gamecocks. Van Lith had 14 points and 6 rebounds and Johnson contributed 13 points, 4 rebounds and 3 steals.
LSU will likely be one of the four No. 2 seeds when the NCAA Tournament selection committee announces the field next Sunday at 7 p.m. on ESPN.
Though the ailing Tigers will certainly use this week to rest and heal for the tourney, Mulkey is eager to start her 22nd NCAA tournament as a head coach.
“We’re playing some good basketball right now,” Mulkey said. “That’s just the God’s truth. They (South Carolina) have a lot of depth. One kid, basically, hurt us today and that was Fulwiley. You look at the stats, how can you not leave here and go, `God I wish the playoffs started next week?’
“I love where we are. We’re in a good spot. Resilient. Didn’t get rattled. Fought through some adversity with Poa’s injury last night to even get to this point. They have each other’s back. I feel great.”
Contact Ron at ronhigginsmedia@gmail.com