![\"Texas](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/4BR2Z7KBB5HBNAZRYDLDR6VPKQ.jpg\")
Texas celebrates after their win against South Carolina in an NCAA college basketball game in the final of the Southeastern Conference tournament, Sunday, March 8, 2026, in Greenville, S.C.(Chris Carlson | AP Photo\/Chris Carlson)<\/p>\nGREENVILLE, S.C. (AP) \u2014 Vic Schaefer shared a group hug with his Texas players and asked excitedly, \u201cWhere\u2019s the confetti?\u201d<\/p>\n
A moment later, the veteran coach looked up and the celebratory confetti began falling from the rafters at the Bon Secours Wellness Arena as the last of thousands of disappointed South Carolina fans disappeared through the exits.<\/p>\n
Texas celebrates after their win against South Carolina in an NCAA college basketball game in the final of the Southeastern Conference tournament, Sunday, March 8, 2026, in Greenville, S.C.(Chris Carlson | AP Photo\/Chris Carlson)<\/p>\n
Madison Booker scored 18 points as the fourth-ranked Longhorns sprinted to a 14-0 lead and beat three-time defending champion and No. 3 South Carolina 78-61 on Sunday to win its first Southeastern Conference Tournament title.<\/p>\n
Justice Carlton added 15 points and Jordan Lee had 12 for the Longhorns (31-3), who joined the SEC in 2024.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe belong in the SEC,\u201d Booker said. \u201cWe\u2019re here to play and we\u2019re here to win.\u201d<\/p>\n
And they did it on what many view as South Carolina\u2019s \u201cother\u201d home floor.<\/p>\n
The Gamecocks were 20-1 under coach Dawn Staley in SEC Tournament games in Greenville \u2014 just 90 minutes from campus \u2014 and had won six of the last seven tournaments here.<\/p>\n
But Texas shot a blistering 57% from the field to avenge last year\u2019s 19-point loss<\/a> to the Gamecocks in the title game.<\/p>\n Booker, who was named MVP of the tournament, finished 8 of 15 from the field and had four rebounds and two assists. She scored 14 points in the second half on 6-of-11 shooting.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen her shot is going in like that, they are very difficult to beat,\u201d Staley said.<\/p>\n Joyce Edwards had 13 points for the Gamecocks (31-3), who saw their 12-game win streak snapped.<\/p>\n The powerhouse programs split two tightly contested meetings earlier this season, with the Longhorns winning 66-64 at a neutral site in November and the Gamecocks earning a measure of revenge with a 68-65 win on their home floor in January.<\/p>\n This one was never close.<\/p>\n Texas made its first seven shots and built a 14-0 lead after five early South Carolina turnovers before Tessa Johnson\u2019s 3 stopped the bleeding. Staley never called timeout during the run, instead opting to let her team play through it.<\/p>\n Carlton outscored South Carolina by herself in the first quarter, finishing with 13 points as Texas built a 27-12 lead after shooting 68%.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was bad,\u201d Edwards said. \u201cAll of the starters, we were supposed to set the tone out there and we didn\u2019t do that.\u201d<\/p>\n Texas guard Rori Harmon was confident the fast start would lead to victory.<\/p>\n \u201cLosing is not an option,\u201d Harmon said. \u201cDon\u2019t step on the court if you\u2019re not ready to win.\u201d<\/p>\n With fans urging the Gamecocks to make a run, the Longhorns didn\u2019t let up, pushing the lead to 17 at the break \u2014 the largest halftime deficit in the SEC Tournament for South Carolina under Staley.<\/p>\n South Carolina managed to get within 11 with 5:22 left, but Lee answered with a 3 and later pushed the lead to 16 with a driving layup with two minutes left. Booker then sealed the Longhorns\u2019 eighth straight win with a midrange jumper.<\/p>\n \u201cEvery time that we would try to make a run, we had just like mental lapses, like uncharacteristic turnovers,\u201d Staley said. \u201cSome of it was us, some of it was Texas \u2014 and they took advantage of it every single time.\u201d<\/p>\n Staley said if there is a silver lining to the loss, it\u2019s that the last time the Gamecocks fell in the SEC title game, in 2022, they went on to win the national championship.<\/p>\n \u201cIt might be the very thing this team needs,\u201d Staley said. \u201cIt\u2019s not what I would have thought coming in today, but now that we\u2019re here and it\u2019s a reality, you search for things that have a connection that can give your team what it needs to make this run for a national championship.\u201d<\/p>\n If South Carolina hopes to win its fourth national title under Staley, it will need to improve its free-throw shooting. The Gamecocks finished 12 of 23 from the foul line.<\/p>\n Up next<\/p>\n Both teams are expected to be No. 1 seeds in the women\u2019s NCAA Tournament.<\/p>\n ___<\/p>\n Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here<\/a>. AP women\u2019s college basketball: https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/ap-top-25-womens-college-basketball-poll<\/a> and https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/womens-college-basketball<\/a><\/p>\n Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"GREENVILLE, S.C. (AP) \u2014 Vic Schaefer shared a group hug with his Texas players and asked excitedly, \u201cWhere\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":647850,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3723],"tags":[7,217,7456,231,772,1544,4259,2098,6112],"class_list":{"0":"post-647849","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ncaa-basketball","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-college-basketball","10":"tag-march-madness","11":"tag-ncaa","12":"tag-ncaa-basketball","13":"tag-ncaab","14":"tag-south-carolina","15":"tag-texas","16":"tag-womens-basketball"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116195979025624437","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/647849","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=647849"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/647849\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/647850"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=647849"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=647849"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=647849"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}