COLUMBIA (AP) – Alaina Coates had 27 points and 13 rebounds as No. 2 South Carolina overcame an injury to star Tiffany Mitchell to defeat No. 18 Kentucky 78-68 Thursday night and head to its showdown with top-ranked Connecticut at 22-0.
Coates had her fourth double-double in the past five games for the Gamecocks (10-0 Southeastern Conference), who needed every bit of it to hold off the Wildcats (15-6, 4-6) after Mitchell, the two-time defending SEC player of the year, crashed hardtop the floor in the second quarter.
Mitchell spent several minutes face down in obvious pain before being helped off the court. She returned to the bench in the third quarter with what the team said was a lower back bruise.
Makayla Epps scored 17 points, all in the second half, for Kentucky, which had lost four of five games.
A’ja Wilson had 18 points for South Carolina.