GREENVILLE, S.C. — Madison Booker scored 18 points as No. 4 Texas sprinted to a 14-0 lead en route to beating three-time defending champion and third-ranked South Carolina 78-61 on Sunday for the Longhorns’ first Southeastern Conference women’s basketball tournament title.

Booker, who averaged 20 points on 61% shooting in three games, was named MVP of the tournament. Justice Carlton added 15 points and Jordan Lee had 12 for the Longhorns (31-3), who joined the SEC in 2024.

“We belong in the SEC,” Booker said. “We’re here to play and we’re here to win.”

Texas shot 57% from the field to avenge last year’s 19-point loss to the Gamecocks in the championship game. Booker finished 8 of 15 from the field, and she scored 14 points in the second half on 6-of-11 shooting.

“When her shot is going in like that, they are very difficult to beat,” South Carolina coach Staley said.

Joyce Edwards had 13 points for the Gamecocks (31-3), who had their 12-game win streak snapped.

The powerhouse programs, who are both forecasted by ESPN to get No. 1 seeds when the NCAA tournament field is released on March 15 (8 p.m. ET, ESPN), split two tightly contested meetings earlier this season, with the Longhorns winning 66-64 at a neutral site in November and the Gamecocks earning a measure of revenge with a 68-65 win on their home floor in January.

Texas coach Vic Schaefer became the first coach to win the women’s SEC tournament title at multiple schools. He also guided Mississippi State to the crown in 2019.

This one, however, was never close as Texas made its first seven shots — including six in the paint — and led 14-0, taking advantage of five early South Carolina turnovers before Tessa Johnson finally hit a 3 to get the Gamecocks on the board.

“It was bad,” Edwards said. “All of the starters, we were supposed to set the tone out there and we didn’t do that.”

Carlton outscored South Carolina by herself in the first quarter, finishing with 13 points as Texas built a 27-12 lead by shooting 68% from the field. It was the most points given up by the Gamecocks to an SEC opponent in more than a decade, according to ESPN Research.

With a large South Carolina crowd on hand, the Longhorns didn’t let up, pushing the lead to 17 at the break — the largest halftime deficit in the SEC tournament for South Carolina under Staley.

The Longhorns continued their dominance inside, scoring 40 points on 20-of-34 shooting in the paint, even as South Carolina contested 76% of those shots, according to ESPN Research. It was Texas’ 17th game this season in which it scored at least 40 points in the paint.

“Losing is not an option,” Texas guard Rori Harmon said. “Don’t step on the court if you’re not ready to win.”

South Carolina managed to get within 11 with 5:22 left, but Lee answered with a 3 and later pushed the lead to 16 with a driving layup with two minutes left. Booker then sealed the Longhorns’ eighth straight win with a jumper.

“Every time that we would try to make a run, we had just like mental lapses, like uncharacteristic turnovers,” Staley said. “Some of it was us, some of it was Texas — and they took advantage of it every single time.”

Staley said if there is a silver lining to the loss, it’s that the last time the Gamecocks fell in the SEC title game, in 2022, they went on to win the national championship.

“It might be the very thing this team needs,” Staley said. “It’s not what I would have thought coming in today, but now that we’re here and it’s a reality, you search for things that have a connection that can give your team what it needs to make this run for a national championship.”

The Gamecocks finished 12-of-23 from the free throw line.

ESPN Research and The Associated Press contributed to this report.