South Carolina achieved several firsts with its 2-0 victory No. 16 Tennessee in the quarterfinals of the SEC women’s tournament Wednesday in Orange Beach, Ala.
It was the first win for the Gamecocks in 14 games against Tennessee and it was their first win ever in the SEC Tournament.
Darcel Mollon scored the game-winner in the ninth minute, and Mary Worthen scored her first goal of the season in the 71st to clinch the historic victory. The Gamecocks made their first appearance in the SEC Tournament in 1999 and were 0-5-1 in five tournament appearances going into Wednesday’s game.
South Carolina (14-5-2) entered the tournament as the sixth seed and all but wrapped up an NCAA Tournament bid with the victory.
“Obviously going in that can cross your mind that it hasn’t happened before,” USC coach Shelley Smith said. “[Tennessee is a seasoned team as far as SEC play goes and postseason play. We had a lot to prove. We knew we had talent to go a long way this year.
South Carolina will face No. 2 seed Georgia in Friday’s semifinals.
SEC
Quarterfinals
Nov. 7 in Orange Beach, Ala.
Georgia 2 (Tomlinson 43, Abelson 56) Mississippi 0.
Tennessee 0 South Carolina 2 (Mollon 9, Worthen 71).
Florida 4 (Bishop 8, 37, K.Hudson 26, Gibbs 90) Kentucky 0.
LSU 2 (Makasini 61, Yepez 79) Auburn 2 (Kasten 58, 67) (OT).
(LSU wins 4-2 on penalties.)