GREENVILLE, S.C. (AP) — Preseason All-American Madison Booker had 31 points, 11 rebounds and five assists and No. 6 Texas pulled away in the fourth quarter and beat 24th-ranked Mississippi 85-68 Saturday to reach the Southeastern Conference Tournament championship game for the second straight season.
Kyla Oldacre was strong in the paint with 19 points and eight rebounds for the Longhorns (30-3), who’ll face No. 3 South Carolina (31-2) in a rematch
of last year’s title game which the Gamecocks won 64-45.
Cotie McMahon and Denim DeShields each 20 points for Mississippi (23-11), which was outscored 28-13 in the fourth quarter.
The Rebels reached the semifinal round after a stunning win over No. 5 Vanderbilt in which they jumped out to a 23-2 lead and led by 32 in the third quarter before holding off a late rally by the Commodores.
They didn't start nearly as fast on Saturday.
The taller Longhorns used a 12-0 run to build a 16-point lead in the first half, outscoring the Rebels 30-14 in the paint.
But Ole Miss came storming back and cut the deficit to two points two entering the fourth quarter after Denim DeShields hit a 3-pointer from the corner, just beating the buzzer.
The fourth quarter belonged to Texas and Booker.
Booker was 5 of 6 from the field and scored 13 points in the final frame, including a huge 3 with two minutes left to put the Longhorns up by 12. Ole Miss was 5 of 14 from the field in the fourth quarter and missed all five 3-point attempts.
Mississippi: Awaits NCAA Tournament seeding.
Texas: Has split the two matchups with South Carolina this season, beating the Gamecocks 66-64 in a neutral site game in November and losing 68-65 at Columbia, South Carolina, in January.
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