Coming into Saturday’s SEC Event semifinal with zero profession three-pointers, Kamilla Cardoso referred to as financial institution when No. 1 South Carolina wanted her most.
With 1.1 seconds remaining within the fourth quarter and the Gamecocks trailing No. 5 Tennessee, 73-71, Cardoso banked in a wide-open three from the highest of the arc, conserving South Carolina’s excellent season intact.
Cardoso’s heroics helped keep away from what would have been an excruciating manner for South Carolina to undergo its first lack of the marketing campaign.
Main by as many as 23 factors, the Gamecocks noticed their benefit evaporate late within the fourth quarter. After Rickea Jackson gave Tennessee the lead with 25 seconds left, Raven Johnson missed a go-ahead three-pointer on the opposite finish of the ground.
Nevertheless, a Jasmine Powell missed free throw gave the Gamecocks yet another likelihood, establishing Cardoso’s buzzer-beater.
After the thrilling last-second victory, Cardoso revealed that she wasn’t even positive what the play was earlier than hitting arguably the largest shot of her life. After years of engaged on her shot after observe, intuition took over.
“I did not understand it was good till I noticed the ball drop onto the ground,” she instructed Matt Dowell of WACH.
The unlikely hero is now 1 of two from past the arc for her profession, making her, as teammate Te-Hina Paopao joked, the “finest shooter within the nation.”
Kidding apart, because of her clutch three, she and the Gamecocks will battle for the SEC title on Sunday with their undefeated file intact.
