Women's basketball conference title game scores, highlights: South Carolina tops LSU to win SEC after ugly late brawl

McKenzie Forbes was the star for the Trojans as USC wins what is potentially the last Pac-12 championship game. The senior finished with 26 points in the 74-61 win.

With 2 minutes left, it's still a double-digit game. This is USC's title to lose.

Every time Stanford chips into USC's lead, McKenzie Forbes hits another shot and it's undone. She now has 24 points with just over 6 minutes left in the game.

McKenzie Forbes has 19 points for the Trojans. They've been able to keep Stanford at arm's length for most of the game.

Watkins hits her first field goal of the game with less than 5 minutes left in the 3rd quarter. And it was not an easy one as she was forced to contort her body for a tough low-post bucket.

We are back for the second half of the Pac-12 title game and the Trojans have pushed it to double digits.

A stunning stat:

JuJu Watkins against Stanford on Feb. 2: 51 points

JuJu Watkins against Stanford tonight: 2 points

And yet, USC is comfortably in the lead. Stanford is forcing Watkins left and doubling her at every opportunity and the freshman hasn't been able to settle in. Her teammates, however, are cashing in on the extra attention being paid to Watkins.

The Trojans go into the break up nine thanks to McKenzie Forbes, who has 14 points on 6-of-10 shots at halftime. Kayla Padilla and Kayla Williams also have eight a piece for USC. Cameron Brink has 13 points and five rebounds for Stanford.

As all that played out, the final Pac-12 title game tipped off and is nearing halftime. The Trojans have been the better team early despite star freshman JuJu Watkins being held scoreless so far.

The Gamecocks hold on to win the SEC title after a wild late-game scrum led to mass ejections for both teams. South Carolina's Kamilla Cardoso will have to sit out the first game of the NCAA tournament for her role in the fight.

Complete box score

Barring a miracle, the Gamecocks are going to be able to ice this thing despite the bizarre circumstances in the final 2 minutes.

LSU desperately needed a stop but fouled and then was unable to secure a defensive rebound. South Carolina goes to the line, sinks two.

The action on the court has restarted and the Tigers have cut the deficit to 75-70. Just over a minute left in the game.

Every player who was just ejected will not be able to play in the first round of the NCAA tournament.

The final 2:08 will be played out with the 5 players on each team who were not involved in the scrum or did not leave the bench area.

Here's another angle of the melee, including the fan who leapt the scorer's table and was quickly followed by a security guard.

There are going to be a lot of fouls and decisions made by the refs here shortly. The fan, who per the ESPN broadcast was Flau'Jae Johnson's brother, was taken off in handcuffs.

A scrum has broken out at midcourt. Ashley Watkins had gotten into the face of Flau-Jae Johnson and she didn't like it. Then Kamilla Cardoso threw Watkins to the ground and a fan jumped the scorer's table onto the court.

LSU had pieced together a 9-0 run to cut it to 1 point, but South Carolina finally stops it with a short jumper. There are just under 3 minutes left; it's going to come down the wire in Greenville.

The Tigers could've cut it to a single possession heading into the final quarter but couldn't find the net with several chances at the rim and South Carolina took advantage with a transition score to extend its lead.

MiLaysia Fulwiley is on fire after hitting consecutive threes and a breakaway layup. That's 20 points for her as South Carolina gets its lead back up to double digits.

UConn's Paige Bueckers had another strong outing in the Huskies' Big East semifinal win over Marquette. She finished with 27 points, 12 rebounds, 4 assists, 4 blocks and 3 steals. UConn will play the winner of Georgetown and Creighton in the title game.

The Gamecocks have opened up a double-digit lead now and are scoring with ease. The Tigers' lack of depth is once again evident.

Of course, you don't need to worry about all that when you can finish like this.

We're out of the break and Kamilla Cardoso just picked up her third foul. That could be huge as these two teams fight in the post down the stretch.

It was a highly physical first 20 minutes of action. Aneesah Morrow leads all scorers with 11 at the break.

It's still tight with under 2 minutes left until halftime, but Fulwiley is heating up.

Angel Reese was given her second foul and it was reviewed for excessive contact and upgraded to an intentional foul. Reese hit South Carolina's Kamilla Cardoso in the face with an extended arm and is headed to the bench. It's been chippy between the two early in this one.

Raven Johnson is finding a rhythm now, hitting from deep.

The Tigers started out getting easy buckets and had an early lead, but the Gamecocks tightened up defensively late in the quarter to take the lead after an 11-2 run.

Morrow has six points and the Tigers have jumped out to a 13-7 lead early.

The SEC championship is underway and the Tigers are on the board first as Aneesah Morrow gets an easy bucket right away. Angel Reese follows up with her own jumper later.

UConn has a double-digit lead early in the Big East semifinal over Marquette. Paige Bueckers has nine early points as the Huskies try to make it back to the conference tourney final.

The Irish win the ACC championship for the first time since 2019! Hannah Hidalgo led the way with 22 points, 6 rebounds and 6 assists.

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The Irish look like they're going to escape with a win here, barring a miracle.

Now it's Hannah Hidalgo slashing through the NC State defense for a layup!

The Irish have tied things up on a Maddy Westbeld 3-pointer. It's been a tight affair so far. Just over 3 minutes left in the ACC title game.

The Hawkeyes are Big Ten tourney champs for the third consecutive year. Caitlin Clark led the way with 34 points, 12 assists and 7 rebounds.

Box Score