South Carolina coach Dawn Staley knew her first option for a game-winning, outside shot, Te-Hina Paopao, would be bottled up by Tennessee. So she demanded from the sideline her leading scorer and rebounder, Kamilla Cardoso, do what she'd been reluctant to her whole career: "Shoot it!" Cardoso finally listened, banking home a desperation shot at the buzzer for her first-ever 3-pointer to rescue No. 1 South Carolina's perfect season with a 74-73 win over the Lady Vols in the Southeastern Conference Tournament semifinals on Saturday.

"I added a couple more words that I can't mention," Staley said about her order to Cardoso, the 6-foot-7 forward who had only attempted one long-range shot in her career as a Syracuse freshman before this. "Coach told Kamilla to shoot the ball and Kamilla shoots the ball with confidence," said point guard Raven Johnson, who passed in to Cardoso at the top of the key. The Gamecocks (31-0) had blown a 23-point lead and trailed the Lady Vols (19-12) 73-71 with 1.1 seconds left.

The Gamecocks advance to their ninth tournament final in the past 10 seasons and will look for their eighth title in that span against either No. 8 LSU or Ole Miss.

Rickea Jackson ended with 22 points, 19 in the final two quarters as Tennessee fought back from 35-12 down late in the second quarter. Her putback with 25 seconds left gave the Lady Vols their first lead of the game. The Lady Vols had the chance to extend the lead with three seconds left, but Jasmine Powell, a 78% free throw shooter, missed both attempts to give South Carolina a chance. "I just hate that for them," said Tennessee coach Kellie Harper, on the verge of tears talking about the loss.