GREENVILLE, S.C. - South Carolina women's basketball coach Dawn Staley had a message for her players when they were on their heels in the third quarter, struggling to blunt another major comeback by Arkansas at the Southeastern Conference tournament.
"I didn't flinch, and neither should you," Staley said during a timeout after the 25th-ranked and fifth-seeded Razorbacks cut No. 1 and top-ranked South Carolina's 19-point lead to 55-48.
Aliyah Boston, Destanni Henderson and the Gamecocks did not give in, rolling to their 25th consecutive win by beating Arkansas 90-64 on Saturday night to reach the SEC tourney final for the fifth time in six seasons.
Henderson had a career-high 21 points, hitting four 3-pointers off the bench, and Boston notched 13 points and 13 rebounds for her second straight double-double at the tournament. Those two combined for all 12 points in a shutout run to close the third period and restore South Carolina's large lead.
"I just had to come out and match their energy," said Henderson, whose previous career best was 19 points in a win last year over Arkansas. "I had to stay ready, stay focused."
That focus has South Carolina bidding for its fifth tournament title since 2015. It had won an SEC record four in a row before losing in the quarterfinals to Arkansas in 2019.
"We wanted back, and we're here," Staley said. "No need to let up now."
The Gamecocks will take on ninth-ranked, second-seeded Mississippi State at 2 p.m. Sunday. The Bulldogs swept last season's SEC titles, but now South Carolina has a chance to do the same.
Arkansas (24-8) had rallied from 17 points down Friday to eliminate 15th-ranked, fourth-seeded Texas A&M in Friday's quarterfinals, 67-66. This time, the Razorbacks could not finish and lost to the Gamecocks for the third time this season.
Razorbacks coach Mike Neighbors said he knew his team was "on fumes" during its furious third-quarter start that had the largely pro-South Carolina crowd - the site is just two hours or so from the Gamecocks' campus - stunned.
Neighbors said his stategy was to "ride it out and see what happens."
Zia Cooke had 14 points for South Carolina and Boston, another freshman starter, got her 13th double-double this season.
The Razorbacks looked like they wanted to avoid falling in a big hole when they nailed a pair of 3-pointers in the first 90 seconds, but then South Carolina's defense kicked in and Arkansas went cold. The Razorbacks missed 11 straight field goals into the second quarter as the Gamecocks opened a 20-10 lead.
The 29 points tied for the third-fewest the Razorbacks, who average of better than 84 points a game this season led the SEC, have scored in a first half this season.
Amber Ramirez had 18 points off six 3-pointers to lead the Razorbacks. Chelsea Dungee and Alexis Tolefree, the team's leading scorers this season, struggled against South Carolina's defense, combining to shoot 5-of-23 for 18 points.
Neighbors said South Carolina has no weaknesses.
"You can go to all the coaches clinics in the history of this world and you're not going to find a hole in this team," he said.
Staley disagreed, but would not detail them, she said, until after the season.
Mississippi State 77, Kentucky 59
Mississippi State's Jordan Danberry knows her team has started slowly so far at this SEC tournament.
She also knows that can't happen next time out.
The Bulldogs (27-5) took control in the second half to reach the SEC final for the fifth straight season. Waiting for them is South Carolina, eager to regain the tournament crown it most recently won two years ago.
Rickea Jackson had 29 points and fellow Mississippi State freshman Aliyah Matharu added 15, with 13 of those in the second half.
Danberry believes her team will have be sharp immediately to take down South Carolina.
"We have to come out, punch first, be very focused," Danberry said. "They're the No. 1 team in the nation. We know we have to go out there and play our game from the jump."
That's not the way things have gone for the Bulldogs so far in Greenville. They outscored LSU 53-24 in the final two quarters Friday after leading by a point at halftime.
Against 16th-ranked, third-seeded Kentucky (22-8), they trailed 35-32 at the break before finding their footing.
Asked why his team has started so slowly, Mississippi State coach Vic Schaefer said simply, "I have no idea."
What matters more, he said, is how the Bulldogs finish - and that's usually very strong.
One of the most notable exceptions this season was against the Gamecocks in January, when the Bulldogs held a nine-point lead in the fourth quarter yet lost 81-79.
"We've just got to play our game and we'll be good," Jackson said.
She, Matharu and the rest of the Bulldogs played their game the final two quarters, outscoring the Wildcats 45-24.
Danberry also put the defensive clamps on Kentucky standout sophomore Rhyne Howard in that stretch. Howard, the SEC player of the year who prepped at Bradley Central, had 26 points, with just nine of those coming in the final 20 minutes. She also had seven rebounds, two assists, one steal and a block.
Howard's jumper put Kentucky in front 39-37, but Matharu had three straight baskets to put Mississippi State ahead for good and Jackson pushed the pace to make sure the Wildcats could not rally.
Schaefer said his young players are aware of the hype of South Carolina's freshman starters.
"I don't know how much they care," he said.
Mississippi State lost the tournament final to the Gamecocks three straight years (2016-2018), the last one when it came in as the No. 1 seed.
Chasity Patterson's 3-pointer with 4.5 seconds before the break gave Kentucky the 35-32 lead, the fourth time in the past eight games the Bulldogs trailed at halftime. They have rallied to win three times.
Patterson said Mississippi State ramped up its game in the second half.
"We really couldn't get the ball stopped ,and they were putting it down our throats in transition," she said.
When Howard missed shots, Kentucky could not find enough scoring to keep close to Mississippi State. The Wildcats will need to spend time finding others to step forward offensively before the NCAA tournament.
Kentucky coach Matthew Mitchell said he won't spend time lobbying for his Wildcats to gain a top-four seed, which would allow them to host NCAA tournament games in Lexington during the first two rounds.
"No matter what seed we are," he said "I think we can be a very dangerous team."