What we know: South Carolina’s wild weekend ends with fight, multiple ejections

Less than a week ago, we looked at No. 1 South Carolina and proclaimed the Gamecocks an overwhelming favorite to win the national championship in women’s basketball. They remain the front-runner, but after an eventful SEC tournament, there are some questions.

Top-seeded South Carolina remained undefeated and won its eighth SEC tournament title, beating No. 2 seed LSU 79-72 in Sunday’s final, but it was not an easy weekend for the Gamecocks. It started Friday with a closer-than-expected 79-68 victory over No. 9 seed Texas A&M.

Saturday, it appeared South Carolina would lose its first game this season. The Gamecocks had squandered a 23-point lead and were trailing No. 5 seed Tennessee by 2 points with 1.1 seconds left. But center Kamilla Cardoso made the first 3-pointer of her college career, saving South Carolina.

That set up Sunday’s final matchup with LSU. The Tigers had their own scare Saturday, beating Ole Miss but losing guard Last-Tear Poa to a concussion in a frightening fall in which she hit her head on the court.

The Gamecocks defeated the Tigers 76-70 in their regular-season meeting Jan. 25. Sunday, tempers flared in the rematch. With just over 2 minutes left, LSU’s Flau’jae Johnson intentionally fouled South Carolina’s MiLaysia Fulwiley to prevent a breakaway layup. Johnson then shoved South Carolina’s Ashlyn Watkins, and Johnson subsequently was shoved to the ground by Cardoso. Both benches emptied, with multiple players ejected.

It’s expected that Cardoso, who was ejected for fighting, will be suspended for the Gamecocks’ NCAA tournament opener.

ESPN weighs in on what we just saw at the SEC tournament and whether it impacts South Carolina’s hopes of winning a third NCAA title.

Does South Carolina seem a little more vulnerable now?

Voepel: It’s hard to not say that, because the Gamecocks were a banked-in 3-pointer from Cardoso away from their first loss. That came after Texas A&M had played even with them in the second half of the quarterfinals.

“The 24 turnovers are a killer,” South Carolina coach Dawn Staley said after beating the Aggies. “It didn’t shoot us in the foot as bad as it could, but I will say if we play like this in the semifinals, that will be our last game here in Greenville.”

It almost was, but for a different reason than turnovers. South Carolina had just nine against Tennessee, but allowed the Lady Vols to score 50 second-half points. The Gamecocks also made just 4 of 15 3-pointers against Tennessee, although the last one was a dagger.

“I’m still shocked. I can’t believe that she made it,” said teammate Raven Johnson, who threw Cardoso the inbound pass.

How South Carolina responded to its biggest threat this season — Staley calmly called Cardoso’s number, and she delivered — is a positive. But the fact that the game came down to that shot has to be a concern for the Gamecocks, considering the huge lead that got away.

Creme: The SEC tournament opened some eyes to South Carolina’s vulnerability. A week ago I was talking about taking the Gamecocks against the field. That isn’t the case anymore.

The Gamecocks need to clean up a number of areas. Turnovers is at the top of the list, but South Carolina also only shot 31.4% from 3-point range in the final two games in Greenville. That’s far below the 39.8% they shot in the regular season, which ranked third in the country.

Is there a concern about Cardoso going forward?

Voepel: Yes. Not because the Gamecocks may not have her in the first round. As a No. 1 seed, they are almost certainly going to clobber whichever No. 16 seed has to visit Columbia, South Carolina.

The issue is Cardoso keeping her cool. Understandably, she was upset that Johnson fouled one of her teammates and shoved another. Plus, there were incidents before that in the game where Angel Reese appeared to pull Cardoso’s hair and was called for an intentional foul when her arm hit Cardoso’s face.

But for Cardoso, this follows an incident in which she shoved Germany’s Satou Sabally, who plays for the Dallas Wings, during an Olympic qualifying tournament game last month. Sabally was called for a technical for taunting Cardoso, which precipitated the shove.

In both cases, it’s understandable that Cardoso was angry. But she’s now going to have officials watching her even more closely, which is tough when you’re often the tallest player (6-foot-7) on the court. The good thing for her is that Staley has a lot of experience helping players channel frustration in a more productive way, and you can be sure Staley and her staff will keep working with her.

After the game, Cardoso posted on X, “I would like to extend my sincerest apologies for my actions during today’s game. 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. 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.”

Did anything else of concern stand out about South Carolina at the SEC tournament?

Voepel: Let’s not overreact; the Gamecocks have dominated the league tournament for most of the last decade, and they are going home with the trophy again. But there were aspects of every game in Greenville — be it turnovers, defensive lapses or rebounding — that Staley was not happy with.

Still, look at what happened in the four Power 5 tournaments that have been completed: South Carolina was the only No. 1 seed/regular-season champion to win.

In the Big Ten, top-seeded Ohio State fell in the quarterfinals to Maryland, and No. 2 seed Iowa won the title — although the Hawkeyes had to rally to beat Nebraska in overtime.

In the ACC, No. 1 seed Virginia Tech was without injured star center Elizabeth Kitley and lost in the semifinals to eventual champion Notre Dame, the No. 4 seed.

And in the Pac-12, No. 2 seed USC beat No. 1 seed Stanford for the title. The Big 12’s top seed, Oklahoma, is into the semifinals Monday, along with No. 2 seed Texas.

So while the Gamecocks may have been rattled a bit this weekend, they still won another championship.

Creme: To Michael’s point about not overreacting, this is still the deepest championship-caliber team in the country. Now the Gamecocks get to step outside the SEC in the NCAA tournament, where the opposition isn’t nearly as familiar.

With so many teams — LSU near the top of the list, but also including the Hokies, Notre Dame, UConn and Indiana — playing with thin rosters because of injuries, the Gamecocks still carry a big advantage with the different lineups Staley has available. That depth played a significant role in Sunday’s championship game and, no doubt, will have a major impact on South Carolina’s NCAA tournament run.