South Carolina gets No. 1 seed in SEC tournament after winning coin flip with Texas

By Canadian Press on March 2, 2025.

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — South Carolina will be the No. 1 seed in the Southeastern Conference women’s basketball tournament after winning a coin flip on Sunday.

The sixth-ranked Gamecocks and top-ranked Texas both finished 15-1 in conference play. They split their season series, leading to a coin flip to determine the top seed for the tournament, which begins Wednesday in Greenville.

SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey flipped a coin from Birmingham, Alabama, during halftime of LSU’s game against Mississippi to determine the top seed.

“We watched in the locker room and it was kind of exciting,” South Carolina coach Dawn Staley said.

South Carolina has the advantage of playing the early game on Friday at noon EST, which gives the team more rest before the semifinals than Texas, which tips off six hours later.

However, the Longhorns potentially have the easier path to the final.

Third-seeded LSU, which could face Texas in the semifinals, will be without star Flau’jae Johnson for the tournament with a shin injury. Johnson is averaging a team-high 18.9 points per game.

___

Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here. AP women’s college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-womens-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/womens-college-basketball

Steve Reed, The Associated Press