South Carolina women’s basketball team wins national title

The South Carolina women cut down the nets for the first time in school history.

After ending Connecticut’s 111-game winning streak, the Mississippi State women faced South Carolina in an SEC showdown for the National Championship on Sunday evening. Despite the absence of the nation’s most talked about women’s basketball team in UConn, this title game did not fail to disappoint.

South Carolina’s leading scorer A’ja Wilson poured in 11 first half points as the Gamecocks took a 36-26 lead into the locker room. Mississippi State kept fighting, cutting the deficit to four points with 6:53 to play. With both teams looking to win their first national championship, South Carolina’s Wilson and Allisha Gray each scored two buckets to take a 62-52 lead with only three minutes remaining.

Wilson proved to be too much for Mississippi State to handle with key plays on the defensive end and scoring six points in about a minute stretch to put the game on ice. The Gamecocks coasted toward the finish line as they defeated Mississippi State for the third time, 67-55 to win the national title.

Wilson was named the Most Outstanding Player after finishing with 23 points, 10 rebounds and four blocks in the championship game. South Carolina became the first SEC team to win a National Championship since Tennessee in 2008.

Do they Gamecocks have what it takes to repeat in 2018?  This South Carolina team will return a majority of their roster next year, including star A’ja Wilson, if she decides to stay for her senior season. Look for this team to give Uconn a challenge next year for the National Championship.

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South Carolina basketball fans have had a tremendous March. The men’s team had their cinderella run to the Final Four before falling to Gonzaga and the women cut down the nets in Dallas. I’m sure the Gamecock football fans hope the winning ways can carry over.