COLUMBIA — For the fourth time in five seasons, South Carolina women's basketball has clinched a share of the SEC regular-season championship.

With the Gamecocks' win over Alabama on Thursday, they also have the No. 1 seed for the SEC Tournament.

With three games to go, undefeated and top-ranked South Carolina is up three games on No. 10 LSU and holds the tiebreaker after beating the Tigers 76-70 in the teams' lone matchup earlier this season.

The win also gave coach Dawn Staley the 600th win of her career. The SEC title is South Carolina's eighth since she took over in the 2008-09 season.

The Gamecocks are the last remaining undefeated team in Division I, men's or women's, with a 26-0 record, and have been No. 1 in the USA Today Coaches Poll since the second poll of the season.

As the No. 1 seed, South Carolina will begin its defense of the SEC tournament championship at noon March 8 at the Bon Secours Wellness Arena in Greenville, South Carolina. It will face the winner of the game between the No. 8 seed and the No. 9 seed.

This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: South Carolina women's basketball clinches share of SEC title