Dawn Staley and the South Carolina Gamecocks have won eight of the last 10 SEC tournaments. From the A’ja Wilson era to the Aliyah Boston run to today’s incarnation, this program has thoroughly dominated the conference for a decade. Of course, the defending national champions can’t just two-step their way to another trophy. The SEC is loaded right now — three additional top-10 programs and the country’s No. 1 ranked team in Texas.
The Longhorns haven’t lost since early January, bolstered by another sublime Madison Booker season and a Taylor Jones block party. LSU has a high-wattage “big three” and gets buckets with swagger. Oklahoma’s Raegan Beers is a game-breaking talent with a talented supporting cast. This year’s tourney should make for an excellent weekend watch.
GO DEEPER
South Carolina wins coin flip to secure No. 1 seed in SEC Tournament
How to watch the 2025 SEC women’s basketball tournament final
Texas vs. South Carolina
Full schedule
All times Eastern, to be updated throughout the tournament.
First round — Wednesday, March 5
- No. 9 Tennessee 77, No. 16 Texas A&M 37
- No. 12 Georgia 79, No. 13 Arkansas 74
- No. 10 Mississippi State 75, No. 15 Missouri 55
- No. 11 Florida 60, No. 14 Auburn 50
Second round — Thursday, March 6
- No. 8 Vanderbilt 84, No. 9 Tennessee 76
- No. 5 Oklahoma 70, No. 12 Georgia 52
- No. 7 Ole Miss 85, No. 10 Mississippi State 73
- No. 11 Florida 63, No. 6 Alabama 61
Quarterfinals — Friday, March 7
- No. 1 South Carolina 84, No. 8 Vanderbilt 63
- No. 5 Oklahoma 69, No. 4 Kentucky 65
- No. 2 Texas 70, No. 7 Ole Miss 63
- No. 3 LSU 101, No. 11 Florida 87
Semifinals — Saturday, March 8
- No. 1 South Carolina 93, No. 5 Oklahoma 75
- No. 2 Texas 56, No. 3 LSU 49
Championship — Sunday, March 9
- No. 1 South Carolina vs. No. 2 Texas | 3 p.m. | ESPN
Paths to victory
(1) South Carolina: The Gamecocks are fast, deep and proficient in just about everything basketball-related. After last year’s perfect 38-0 championship, this group led the SEC in field goal percentage for and against. Two of their three losses came in elite non-conference looks (UCLA, UConn), and the four-point L against Texas was respectable in the hostile, frenzied Moody Center. Their last four wins were all by double digits.
South Carolina is one of the deepest organized basketball teams in recent memory. It feels like any one of eight players can conquer a given game. In their Feb. 27 domination of Ole Miss, Chloe Kitts balled out to the school’s first triple-double in four years. Sania Feagin had 22 points and five blocks in that win.
Te-Hina Paopao is projected to be a first-round pick in the 2025 WNBA Draft. Joyce Edwards led the team in scoring as a freshman off the bench. And MiLaysia Fulwiley is the tournament’s reigning MVP.
(2) Texas: The Longhorns have great depth, too, and their top-line frontcourt can bang inside with the best of them. Madison Booker is officially the SEC’s Player of the Year, and Vic Schaefer rightfully nabbed the conference’s top coaching honors. But first-ranked Texas was surprisingly pedestrian shooting this season, finishing 11th in SEC 2-point percentage and 10th in 3s. Rather, it creates separation through hustle, defense, turnovers and maximized possessions.
Its last 10 opponents were all held to 66 or fewer points. Booker, Jones and incinerator bench presence Kyla Oldacre combined to average almost nine offensive boards per game this season. Booker nearly had more steals than turnovers. Texas’ clamper Rori Harmon will captain the perimeter. She was an all-conference defender and finished her four-year Austin stretch as the program’s all-time leader in assists. The Houston native is a two-way initiator, creating for teammates in set offense but creating breaks with her icy, bullying takeaways. Oh, and sometimes she does stuff like this:
helloooooo, @SportsCenter 👋🤘#HookEm | #SCTop10 pic.twitter.com/iJBiF2KnPl
— Texas Women’s Basketball (@TexasWBB) February 28, 2025
(3) LSU: The Bayou bunch lived at the rim this season, first in 2-pointers attempted but 13th from behind the arc. They also flourished in second- and third-chance scoring looks. No one ruled the glass quite like Aneesah Morrow, who tracked down the most rebounds in all of Division I and somehow added 2.5 steals per game. A tournament upset will be far more difficult without supernova Flau’jae Johnson (shin). In wins: 19.7 points per game on 48.4 percent from the field. In losses: 11.7 points, 29.8 percent shooting. Mikaylah Williams will get extra shots while Johnson rests for the Dance. Because of a coin flip, the Tigers are on the same side of the bracket as Texas. Morrow and LSU are one of the only teams that can realistically neutralize the Longhorn’s bigs.
(4) Kentucky (eliminated Friday): The Wildcats were 10th in the league for pace but finished fourth in made 3s. Their chance at a memorable March run will be determined by the jumper. If the treys fall, Kentucky gets positioned for something interesting. They struggle with offensive rebounding and don’t get to the foul line often, so surprise leads would still be liable to evaporate. The Cats juice their starters; all five played at least 32 minutes in Sunday’s 12-point loss at South Carolina. Georgia Amoore, Dazia Lawrence and Amelia Hassett can each step up as a high-volume shooter. Sophomore breakout Clara Strack led the conference in blocked shots.
(5) Oklahoma: No SEC team turned the ball over like these Sooners did, but they also led the league in scoring and pace. Oklahoma will have to outrun the competition to do the unthinkable and pull these upsets without the “double bye.” Paint presence Raegan Beers had the best shooting percentage in Division I. Her best complement, guard Payton Verhulst, lets it fly from around the perimeter. With a two-star inside-out offense and the ability to generate open floor chaos, Jennie Baranczyk’s bunch can at least make marathons and get opponents out of their game flows.
Super-sleepers (all have since been eliminated)
- Seventh-seeded Ole Miss actually had the SEC’s third-best net rating, ahead of their ranked peers in LSU, Kentucky and Oklahoma. The Rebels are experienced, with three seniors averaging 11 points per game.
- Alabama, the sixth seed, shot a spectacular 39 percent on 3s. It had an impressive three-point dub over LSU on Feb. 27.
- Vanderbilt, the last of the single-bye squads, has two certified buckets in Mikayla Blakes and Khamil Pierre, each north of 20 points per game. Shea Ralph and the Commodores were eighth in national offensive rating but 150th on the other end.
(Photo of Kyla Oldacre: Eakin Howard / Getty Images)
