NO. 1 SOUTH CAROLINA 86, LSU 62
COLUMBIA, S.C. -- A'ja Wilson scored a career-high 26 points and top-ranked South Carolina rode a 28-6 first-half run to rout the LSU Tigers 86-62 on Thursday night.
Twelve steals and 18 fast-break points from freshman of the year candidate Wilson broke open a close game as the Gamecocks (23-1, 11-0) unleashed their galaxy of stars.
Wilson had 14 first-half points, including the first three-pointer of her career, as she and Khadijah Sessions led the assault. Sessions had 12 and Tiffany Mitchell had 11.
The Gamecocks took out their frustrations of a 25-point loss at Connecticut on LSU by shooting 52.5 percent in the rout.
LSU (14-10, 8-4 Southeastern Conference) had won four consecutive and seven of nine coming in.
The Tigers stayed with the Gamecocks early, scoring in transition and winning the rebounding tussle. Down 20-14 with nine minutes to go in the first half, LSU was starting to heat up behind its big three of Raigyne Moncrief, Danielle Ballard and Sheila Boykin.
But they had no answer for USC's barrage.
"Coach just told us we had to come out and be aggressive, we had to know where people were at," Sessions said. "She did tell us to pick it up at one point because they were getting too many offensive rebounds. We got it together."
The Tigers had three field goals in the final 10 minutes of the half, all by Moncrief. She finished with 10 while Ballard's 16 led the team. Anne Pedersen scored 11 while Sheila Boykin had 12.
The Gamecocks returned to practice after the UConn loss disappointed but upbeat about their season. Coach Dawn Staley said she found a lot to work on and her practices since have been tweaking ways in which to eventually beat the Huskies.
Thursday was a good start.
While USC didn't play nearly as well in the second half, the final 10 minutes of the first half put LSU to sleep. The Gamecocks continued gunning for a repeat SEC championship, although Tennessee remains tied with USC at the top of the standings.
"We were still going to have to focus on LSU," Wilson said. "We learned from that game. Take what we did and learn not to do it the next time."
NO. 6 TENNESSEE 69, MISSISSIPPI 49
OXFORD, Miss. -- Isabelle Harrison had 21 points and 14 rebounds to lead No. 6 Tennessee past Mississippi.
Tennessee (21-3, 11-0 Southeastern Conference) scored just a few seconds after the opening tip and never trailed, slowly pulling away for the easy victory. The Lady Vols have won 17 of 18 games dating back to Dec. 3.
Harrison shot 9 of 14 from the field and also blocked two shots. Bashaara Graves added 17 points off the bench for the Lady Vols.
Mississippi (14-10, 4-7) cut Tennessee's lead to 14-11 after a layup by Danielle McCray, but the Lady Vols responded with a 20-6 run to take a 34-17 halftime lead. The Rebels missed 17 of their final 18 shots in the first half and have now lost six consecutive.
Shandricka Sessom and Gracie Frizzell both scored nine points to lead Ole Miss.
NO. 10 KENTUCKY 92,
NO. 13 MISSISSIPPI STATE 90, 2 OT
LEXINGTON, Ky. -- Makayla Epps capped a career night with a putback basket as time expired in the second overtime to give No. 10 Kentucky a wild victory over No. 13 Mississippi State.
Epps scored 42 points but saved her biggest basket for last as she grabbed her own miss and put in a soft shot for the winner that sparked a big celebration for the Wildcats (19-5, 8-3 Southeastern Conference).
The sophomore guard's scoring total was second in program history behind Jennifer O'Neill's 43 points against Baylor in a four-overtime victory last season. Epps made 18 of 30 from the field including 2 three-pointers that helped the Wildcats win their third in a row.
Epps also won a scoring duel with the Bulldogs' Victoria Vivians, whose career-high 39 points with 5 threes gave Mississippi State (23-4, 9-4) chances to win.
FLORIDA 51, NO. 24 GEORGIA 48
ATHENS, Ga. -- Cassie Peoples hit two three-pointers in the final four minutes to help Florida beat No. 24 Georgia for its first victory in Athens since 2004.
Florida went on a 15-3 run to close the game to win its 15th game in 65 all-time meetings against Georgia.
Peoples finished with 11 points for Florida (12-12, 4-7 SEC). The Gators were outrebounded 43-26, but forced 28 turnovers and held Georgia without a second-half field goal for 10-plus minutes.
Florida made just 7 of 27 shots in the first half and trailed 27-19.
Georgia pushed its lead to 32-22 after Erika Ford's three-pointer. Then Tiaria Griffin's three with 15:09 left gave the Bulldogs a 14-point lead, but Georgia didn't hit its next field goal until the 5:07 mark.
Ford had 14 points off the bench for short-handed Georgia (17-8, 5-7), which missed leading scorer Shacobia Barbee, who is out for the season.
Sports on 02/13/2015