Kamilla Cardoso picked a heckuva time for her first career 3-pointer. 

The 14-point, 9.5-rebound per game South Carolina post presence shot and made her only 3-point attempt of the season in the closing seconds of the Gamecocks' Southeastern Conference Tournament semifinal matchup with Tennessee. The banked-in bucket gave South Carolina a 74-73 win and kept the Gamecocks' unblemished record in tact. 

KAMILLA CARDOSO'S FIRST CAREER 3-POINTER WAS A BUZZER-BEATER TO WIN THE GAME ?pic.twitter.com/SHcYhfToVb

— The Sporting News (@sportingnews) March 9, 2024

Unfortunately, Cardoso's heroics against Tennessee didn't last long in the headlines. Her role in a SEC Championship Game scuffle with reigning national champion LSU will likely result in Cardoso missing the first game of the NCAA Tournament. 

The late-game skirmish in the title tilt, which South Carolina won 79-72 to improve to 32-0 on the season, led to Cardoso's ejection and a postgame tirade by LSU coach Kim Mulkey. 

For her part, Cardoso offered an apology on social media, writing her "behavior was not representative of who I am as a person or the South Carolina program." 

Moving on from the incident, the Gamecocks head into the NCAA Tournament still unbeaten and assured one of the four No. 1 seeds to be awarded on Selection Sunday. Presumably joining South Carolina in the other three spots are fellow conference-tournament champions Iowa and USC. 

Iowa closed out the Big Ten Championship in dramatic fashion, avenging a previous loss to Nebraska with a 94-89, overtime win. Caitlin Clark continued her unforgettable season scoring 34 points and doling out 12 assists, a number of which went to Hannah Stuelke. 

Stuelke's 25 points and nine rebounds played in a crucial role in the Hawkeyes securing a third straight Big Ten Championship. 

"We just have worked really hard all season," Stuelke said in the postgame press conference of her emotion reaction to the win.  "It's just a huge buildup, and I get really happy and really excited." 

To which Clark interjected: "Hannah's really emotional.  That's no surprise." 

USC did its part to presumably lock down the third No. 1 seed with its Pac-12 Tournament championship. 

The Trojans won a pair of nail-biters against Arizona in the quarterfinals, 65-62; beat rival UCLA in the rubber match of their split regular-season series, 8-70 in two overtimes; then ran past Stanford in the title game, 74-61. 

Phenomenal freshman JuJu Watkins went for 33 points and 10 rebounds in the semifinal win over UCLA, but the rest of the Trojans took center stage against Stanford in a game when Watkins scored only nine points on 2-of-15 shooting from the floor. 

McKenzie Forbes' 26 points and Rayah Marshall's 10-point, 18-rebound double-double against one of the best frontcourts in the nation made a statement: There's a lot more to this USC team than just one player. 

"You have to credit JuJu, because there's not one, not two, not three, not four, but five people around her," USC coach Lindsay Gottlieb said of the defensive strategy Stanford employed against Watkins. "And we found a way, because we know that we're a true team." 

Despite the loss, the Cardinal should be in the conversation for the fourth No. 1 seed. The Pac-12 has been the best conference throughout the 2023-24 season, and will occupy three of the eight top seeds overall regardless if the Cardinal are a No. 1 or a No. 2. 

However, Texas will get an opportunity to stake claim to the fourth No. 1 seed when it takes on Iowa State in the March 12 Big Ten Championship. The Longhorns outlasted K-State in the semifinal, while the Cyclones cruised past Oklahoma to set up the title-game showdown. 

Although Iowa State can leave no doubt claiming the automatic bid, the Cyclones should feel good about their at-large outlook come Selection Sunday. 

Another team that made a strong at-large case during conference tournament week: Georgetown, which knocked off a Top 25 Creighton team in the semifinals of the BIG EAST Championship. 

The Hoyas advanced to the title game to face UConn with 22 wins and a fast-rising NET ranking. Georgetown is the fourth BIG EAST team in the mix, with UConn and Creighton locks for the NCAA Tournament and Marquette in solid position at a NET of No. 38. 

Marquette's gritty win over Villanova in the BIG EAST quarterfinals gives the Golden Eagles 23 victories on the season. 

As the regular season winds down, here is the final Associated Press Top 25 before Selection Sunday 2024. 

March 4 Women's AP Top 25

1. South Carolina

Record: 32-0 

Previous: No. 1 

2. Iowa

Record: 29-4

Previous: No. 3

3. USC

Record: 26-5

Previous: No. 5

4. Stanford

Record: 28-5

Previous: No. 2

5. Texas

Record: 28-4

Previous: No. 6

6. UCLA

Record: 25-6

Previous: No. 7

7. Ohio State

Record: 25-5

Previous: No. 4

8. LSU

Record: 28-5

Previous: No. 8

9. Notre Dame

Record: 26-6

Previous: No.14

10. UConn

Record: 28-5

Previous: No. 9

11. North Carolina State

Record: 27-6

Previous: No. 10

12. Oregon State

Record: 24-7

Previous: No. 13

13. Virginia Tech 

Record: 24-7

Previous: No. 11

14. Gonzaga

Record: 29-2

Previous: No. 15

15. Indiana 

Record: 24-5

Previous: No. 12

16. Kansas State 

Record: 25-7

Previous: No. 16

17. Oklahoma

Record: 22-9

Previous: No. 19

18. Colorado

Record: 22-9

Previous: No. 18

19. Baylor

Record: 24-7

Previous: No. 17

20. Utah

Record: 22-10

Previous: No. 22

21. UNLV

Record: 27-2

Previous: No. 23

22. Syracuse

Record: 23-7

Previous: No. 20

23. Creighton

Record: 25-5

Previous: No. 21

24. Louisville

Record: 24-9

Previous: 24

25. Fairfield

Record: 28-1

Previous: No. 25