The SEC women’s basketball tournament final will feature the league’s standard bearer against the latest upstart challenger.
No. 6 Tennessee (26-5) is seeking its 17th tournament title and fourth in five years. The 12th-ranked Wildcats (24-7) upset top-seed South Carolina in the semifinals Saturday and are looking for their second tournament title and first since 1982.
“I hope Tennessee still has something left because Tennessee-Kentucky, that’s a classic matchup,” Texas A&M coach Gary Blair said after the Lady Vols pulled away to victory.
The Lady Vols own a record 72 SEC tournament victories and are 16-5 in the championship game. They won three consecutive tournament titles from 2010-12 before losing to Texas A&M in the 2013 semifinals.
“That was our goal, to get to the finals,” Lady Vols coach Holly Warlick said. “Regardless of (whether it was against) South Carolina or Kentucky, we wanted to get in the championship game. I think these young ladies all year have worked for this moment, they really have. We’ve been hard on them, tough on them.”
Kentucky has been pushing for a tournament title in recent years. Now the Wildcats want to finish.
The Wildcats will play in their fourth SEC tournament championship game in the past five years after beating the Saturday. Kentucky lost to Tennessee in the 2010 and 2011 finals and to Texas A&M in last season’s championship game.
“I’m really, really happy about today, but we want to stay focused on our goal and that’s the championship,” Kentucky coach Matthew Mitchell said.
Kentucky started 5-5 in the SEC before closing strong to finish 10-6. The Wildcats won 75-71 at Tennessee 75-71 on Feb. 16.
Kentucky won the 1982 SEC tournament championship with an 80-74 victory over Tennessee.
