COLUMBIA (AP) – Tiffany Mitchell scored 16 points to lead No. 2 South Carolina to a 69-50 victory over No. 11 Mississippi State and clinch a share of its second straight Southeastern Conference championship Thursday night.
The Gamecocks (27-1, 15-0 SEC) can win the title outright Sunday – and match the 2011 Tennessee team as the only 16-0 champs in SEC history – with a win at No. 13 Kentucky. They would also claim the crown alone should the Lady Vols fall Sunday against Vanderbilt.
No matter what happens, South Carolina heads to next week’s SEC tournament as the No. 1 seed and team to beat. The Gamecocks showed that again, using an 18-5 first-half run to take control with a 39-23 lead.
The Bulldogs (25-5, 10-5) could not cut the lead to fewer than 10 points after that. Victoria Vivians and LaKaris Salter had 14 points each to lead Mississippi State.
Clemson rally falls short against Syracuse
CLEMSON (AP) – Briana Day scored 10 points and grabbed 10 rebounds and No. 23 Syracuse held on to beat Clemson 60-55 on Thursday night.
Syracuse (21-8, 11-5 ACC) heads into the conference tournament with a first-round bye and a four-game winning streak.
With her seventh rebound, Day set Syracuse’s single-season rebounding record, and now has 305.
The Orange led by as many as 16 points in the second half, 43-27 at the 15:00 mark. But Clemson chipped away with a 28-13 run, capped by Shelbie Davenport’s 3-pointer, to pull within 56-55 with 1:21 to play.
Alexis Peterson answered with a jumper, and the Tigers missed two shots and had a turnover to seal it for the Orange.
Peterson scored 18 points for Syracuse, which forced 19 Clemson turnovers.
Nikki Dixon scored 13 of her 15 points in the second half before fouling out with 35.3 seconds left to lead Clemson (9-19, 1-14).
