GREENVILLE, S.C. — South Carolina will have a chance to win their fifth conference postseason title as they routed Arkansas 90-64 Saturday to advance to the SEC Women's Tournament Championship game.
South Carolina's Destanni Henderson had 21 points off the bench to lead the way and four other players were in double figures for the Gamecocks (31-1, 17-0 SEC), who used defense and a large rebounding advantage to outmatch the Razorbacks (24-8, 10-7 SEC).
USC took a few minutes to get going early on, grabbing their first lead at the 5:55 mark in the first quarter. They used a 15-2 run to close the first quarter to jump out to a 18-8 lead at the end of that frame.
The Gamecocks defense harassed the Razorback to a dismal 2-16 shooting performance in that quarter.
By the half, USC stretched the lead to 19 points, led by Henderson's 13 points and Mikiah Herbert-Harrigan's 11 points. Helping USC roll up that margin was their 27-16 rebound advantage.
Arkansas would get themselves back into it early in the third quarter with an 8-0 run that cut the lead to nine. But USC would go on a 12-0 run of their own to end the quarter, putting the game out of reach.
USC will play the winner of Saturday night's Kentucky-Mississppi State game Sunday at 2 p.m.. The title matchup will be shown on ESPN2.
