LEXINGTON, Ky. — The 2025-26 SEC regular season concludes Sunday afternoon at Historic Memorial Coliseum in Lexington, and while the championship banner has already been ordered for Columbia, there is no shortage of meaningful storylines attached to this final chapter. No. 3 South Carolina travels to face a Kentucky program that has been one of the conference’s most pleasant surprises this season, in a matchup that carries SEC Tournament seeding implications, NCAA Tournament positioning stakes, and the specific competitive pride that comes with closing a remarkable season on the right note.
Here is everything you need to know.
Game Information
South Carolina and Kentucky tip off Sunday, March 1 at 2:00 p.m. ET from Historic Memorial Coliseum in Lexington. The game will be televised on the SEC Network and is available to stream via Fubo. The Gamecocks enter at 28-2 overall and 14-1 in conference play. Kentucky stands at 21-8 overall and 8-7 in the SEC.
Series History: A Story Being Rewritten in Real Time
Historically, this series has been dominated by Kentucky. In the all-time series between the two programs, Kentucky leads South Carolina 55-15 ESPN — a gap that reflects decades of Wildcat dominance before the Dawn Staley era fundamentally altered the power structure of SEC women’s basketball.
That historical ledger, however, has become increasingly irrelevant in the modern era. South Carolina has been the SEC’s standard-bearer since the early 2010s, and in recent seasons the Gamecocks have consistently handled the Wildcats. The most recent meeting between the programs came on March 2, 2025, when Tessa Johnson scored 16 points and South Carolina claimed a share of the SEC regular-season championship with a 78-66 victory over then-No. 15 Kentucky. ESPN That result was competitive by comparison to most Gamecock wins during that stretch — a reflection of just how significantly Kentucky has improved under second-year head coach Kenny Brooks.
The broader recent pattern tells a story of a dynasty meeting a program in ascension. Sunday’s game offers Kentucky a genuine opportunity to close the gap on the all-time series ledger in a way that carries real weight — and gives South Carolina a final regular-season test against an opponent fully capable of making them earn it.
Style of Play: A Clash of Systems
South Carolina plays the kind of basketball that does not require elaborate description because the results speak for themselves. The Gamecocks are built around suffocating team defense — Kentucky’s 8.2 blocks per game would be the third most since the 2009-10 season, sitting only behind South Carolina’s 2022-23 and 2019-20 teams — and an offense that flows through multiple creators and prioritizes interior dominance supplemented by elite perimeter shooting. Raven Johnson orchestrates the pace and decision-making at point guard. Joyce Edwards provides the primary scoring punch at 20.1 points per game. Madina Okot alters the game at both ends from the interior. Ta’Niya Latson provides secondary scoring and the perimeter shooting gravity that opens driving lanes. When the ball moves — as it did in the second half against Missouri, when South Carolina doubled their assists — they are nearly impossible to contain.
Kentucky operates under a dramatically different identity, and one that has been forged rapidly under Brooks’ direction. Morgan averages 13.2 points and 8.3 assists per game, ranking No. 2 nationally in the latter category. Sofascore The Wildcats play connected, high-IQ basketball that relies on spacing, ball movement, and their significant size advantage in the interior to generate quality looks. Dawn Staley’s scouting report on Kentucky from their last meeting captures the danger precisely: “They play really connected. They passed through it. They hit shots, they play comfortable, and they’re the type of team in which, if you allowed them to play comfortable, they’ll pick you apart. Great guard play. Great vision out there. Not a whole lot of disruption, and when you don’t disrupt a team like that that can hang 100 on you easily, it’s a hard night.”
The key word in Staley’s assessment is “comfortable.” Kentucky does not need to operate in chaos to be effective. They need space, rhythm, and the ball to move — all things South Carolina’s defense is specifically designed to prevent.
Players to Watch
Clara Strack — Kentucky, Center (6-5, Junior)
Strack is one of just 10 players in the country averaging over 16 points and nine rebounds per game and one of just two doing so in a power conference. Of those 10 players, she is the only one with two or more blocks per game, averaging 2.8 per contest. Sofascore Her combination of size, skill, and shot-blocking makes her arguably the most complete interior player South Carolina will face outside of conference tournament play. Staley acknowledged her challenge directly in Friday’s press conference: “She’s tough, like she’s really tough because she moves you around. She’s unafraid. She’s really good on both sides of the basketball.” Against Madina Okot — herself a dominant interior force — the battle in the paint will be the physical centerpiece of Sunday’s game.
Tonie Morgan — Kentucky, Guard (Senior)
Morgan averages 14 points and eight assists per game. This is the 14th game this season she has dished out at least eight assists. lsusports She is the engine of Kentucky’s offensive system — the player who decides the pace, finds the open person, and punishes any defensive breakdown with precision. Her nation-leading assist numbers are not a product of a passive system. They reflect active, intelligent decision-making against defenses that are specifically trying to disrupt Kentucky’s rhythm. Against South Carolina’s defensive pressure, Morgan will be tested as much as she has been all season.
Teonni Key — Kentucky, Forward (6-4, Senior)
Key is the most physically imposing presence on Kentucky’s roster outside of Strack. Key posted 11.4 points, 8.3 rebounds, and shot 50.4% from the field last season Missouri Athletics and has continued as one of the SEC’s most reliable interior forces in 2025-26. Staley identified her specifically as a rebounding threat requiring collective defensive attention: “One is be aware that she’s bringing that to the table. It is how the team is actually gang rebounding, or helping off in the driving lanes.” The Strack-Key frontcourt combination is the most formidable interior duo South Carolina has faced during this regular-season stretch.
Amelia Hassett — Kentucky, Forward (6-3, Senior)
Hassett had 16 points against Arkansas, making four three-pointers on 4-of-9 from the arc. She has made multiple threes in 19 of 23 games this season. lsusports Hassett provides Kentucky with a frontcourt player who can step out and shoot — a dimension that complicates South Carolina’s interior defensive rotations and forces the Gamecocks to make difficult decisions about whether to help on Strack or Key in the paint.
Joyce Edwards — South Carolina, Forward
Edwards arrives in Lexington averaging 20.1 points per game and coming off a Senior Night in which she was the offensive fulcrum of a 112-71 dismantling of Missouri. Against Kentucky’s size and physicality, her ability to generate her own offense and draw fouls will be a primary factor in whether South Carolina can establish offensive rhythm away from home.
Madina Okot — South Carolina, Center
Her performance against Missouri — 26 points, 17 rebounds, a personal 12-0 run in the fourth quarter — was one of the season’s signature individual efforts. Against Strack and Key, she faces a genuine interior challenge that will test her on both ends of the floor. Whether she can impose the same kind of will she showed Thursday against two of the SEC’s best interior players is the defining individual matchup of Sunday’s game.
Raven Johnson — South Carolina, Point Guard
In her final regular-season road game as a Gamecock, Johnson will be matched against one of the best point guards she has faced all season in Tonie Morgan. The contrast in their styles — Johnson’s combative, pressure-applying defense against Morgan’s fluid, high-IQ distribution — creates the game’s most compelling guard duel. Johnson also brings the intangible weight of a player who has never lost sight of what this program means to her. Five years, five SEC regular-season championships, and one last road game. Expect her to bring everything she has.
Possible Offset: How Kentucky Could Make This Uncomfortable
The structural gap between these programs is real and significant. But Kentucky has demonstrated the capacity to make elite teams uncomfortable when their system operates without disruption. Several factors could narrow the margin.
Kentucky’s shot-blocking defense presents South Carolina’s interior players with a challenge they have not consistently faced. Kentucky’s 8.2 blocks per game this season represents one of the highest totals in recent SEC history. lsusports If Strack and Key can alter shots at the rim and force South Carolina into mid-range territory, the Gamecocks’ offensive efficiency could decline in ways that make this a genuine contest.
Morgan’s ability to distribute at a nation-leading pace could generate rhythm for Kentucky’s shooters — particularly Hassett from the perimeter — before South Carolina’s defense can establish its disruptive identity. If the Wildcats’ offense finds comfort early, the game’s dynamic shifts considerably.
Finally, the road environment matters. Historic Memorial Coliseum in Lexington is one of the SEC’s more intimidating venues, and Kentucky will be playing in front of a home crowd with tournament seeding implications on the line. That combination of factors — home crowd energy, motivated opponent, a system built for comfort — represents the most credible version of a competitive Kentucky performance.
Weaknesses and Injury Concerns
South Carolina’s Vulnerabilities
The Gamecocks’ primary concern heading into Sunday is perimeter shooting consistency. In the absence of a fully healthy Tessa Johnson — who missed Thursday’s Senior Night win over Missouri with an upper body contusion and whose status for Sunday remains officially unconfirmed — South Carolina’s floor spacing becomes less reliable. Johnson leads the SEC in three-point shooting at 45.5% and ranks third nationally. Her presence or absence directly affects how much paint space Edwards and Okot operate in. Raven Johnson hit a career-high four threes against Missouri and Maddy McDaniel contributed two, but those are tertiary options filling a primary role.
South Carolina’s occasional ball-sharing breakdowns also represent a genuine concern. Staley acknowledged the team had just seven assists on 21 first-half field goals against Missouri before correcting course. Against a Kentucky team that defends with size and shot-blocking discipline, isolation-heavy offense that bypasses the passing game will be far less productive than it was in Thursday’s blowout.
Injury Report
Tessa Johnson (upper body contusion) — her status will be confirmed on the SEC injury report Saturday evening and again Sunday morning. Adhel Tac (lower leg injury) remains out and is still using a medical scooter. She has not played since February 5th and is not expected to return for Sunday’s game.
Kentucky’s Vulnerabilities
Despite their impressive overall record, Kentucky struggled against Maryland, posting its worst rebounding margin of the season at just +2, its worst assist-to-turnover ratio, and tied its second-lowest total in blocks. Sofascore Against a South Carolina team that outrebounded Missouri 19-6 on the offensive glass Thursday, the Wildcats’ interior discipline will be tested at the highest level they have faced in weeks. If the Gamecocks can establish early rebounding dominance and generate second-chance points, the game’s competitive window narrows quickly. Additionally, Kentucky’s reliance on rhythm and comfort means that South Carolina’s pressing, disruptive defensive style — particularly with Raven Johnson applying perimeter pressure — could produce exactly the kind of uncomfortable environment in which the Wildcats have historically struggled.
Final Assessment
This is the most credible regular-season road challenge South Carolina has faced in the back half of the conference schedule, and it arrives at precisely the moment the Gamecocks are focused on building momentum for March rather than preserving a lead they already hold. Kenny Brooks has built something real in Lexington — a system, an identity, and a roster capable of competing with anyone in the country on the right night.
But South Carolina has been preparing for games like this since October. Staley’s message has been consistent: “The focus is winning, but at the same time, it’s doing it the way we need to do it. Executing our preparation and ensuring that we don’t put the game in front of doing it the right way.” That standard — applied to a road game against a motivated, talented opponent — is the final exam of the 2025-26 regular season.
The Gamecocks are ready. The question is whether they show it.
Tip-off: 2:00 p.m. ET | Sunday, March 1 | Historic Memorial Coliseum, Lexington, Ky. | SEC Network
