COLUMBIA, S.C.-- In a clash between the last two undefeated teams in SEC play, #6 Tennessee battled #2 South Carolina to the final seconds, but the Lady Vols lost 71-66,on Mondaynight.
Tennessee (23-4, 13-1 SEC) saw its 20-game win streak vs. SEC opponents come to an end as they lost for the first time in more than a year to a conference foe. The last loss came to Kentucky on Feb. 16, 2014, in Knoxville, 75-71.
South Carolina (26-1, 14-0 SEC) extended its home court win streak to 31 games and beat Tennessee for just the second time in its last 45 meetings. The Gamecocks were just 3-47 all-time vs. the Lady Vols coming into the game and only 1-19 in Columbia.
As the lone undefeated team in the league, the Gamecocks take control of the race for the regular-season conference title with two games remaining for each team.
Junior Bashaara Graves led Tennessee with 20 points and seven rebounds. Senior Cierra Burdick tallied 16 points and grabbed 10 boards. Sophomores Jordan Reynolds and Andraya Carter each added 10 points.
South Carolina was led by Aleighsa Welch, who posted a double-double with 19 points and 14 rebounds. Tiffany Mitchell scored 16 points and Elem Ibiam scored all 12 of her points in the first half.
The Lady Vols used tremendous defense late in the game to get within one point in the final seconds after trailing by 10 points with five minutes left.
A Graves 3-point play with1:19left in the game brought Tennessee within three at 67-64. Graves then hit a short jumper with 20 seconds left to make it 67-66. The Lady Vols defense held South Carolina scoreless for nearly five minutes late in the game.
Mitchell made two free throws with 17.7 seconds left to push South Carolina's lead to 69-66. After a Tennessee turnover with 8.5 seconds on the clock, Asia Dozier made two more foul shots to secure the victory for the Gamecocks.
After Tennessee tied the game at 36 early in the second half, South Carolina slowly extended its lead to 11 points on an A'Ja Wilson layup with 10 minutes left in the game. The Gamecocks made five consecutive shots in pulling out to a double-figure lead.
The Lady Vols continued to battle and chipped away at that biggest lead of the game. Burdick's jumper with seven minutes left cut Tennessee's deficit to five points at 62-57.
Alaina Coates, who scored all seven of her points in the second half, returned the Gamecocks' lead to double-figures at 67-57 with5:15remaining.
After trailing the entire game, Ariel Massengale's 3-pointer two minutes into the second half tied the game at 36 all.
South Carolina held a 36-33 in a high-paced first half that featured just four total turnovers. Ibiam led the Gamecocks with 12 points while Graves had 11 for Tennessee. South Carolina's largest lead was eight points at 20-12 with12:40left in the half.
Tennessee is back in actionon Thursdayat Georgia for a9 p.m.tip-off on the SEC Network. The Lady Vols close the regular-season onSunday, March 1when Vanderbilt comes to Thompson-Boling Arena on Senior Night. The5 p.m.game airs on the SEC Network and can be heard on the Lady Vol Network.