Asia Avinger scored 19 points, including four during a closing 11-2 run, and No. 12 seed Georgia rallied to defeat No. 13 Arkansas 79-74 in the first round of the SEC women’s tournament Wednesday afternoon in Greenville, S.C.
De’Mauri Flournoy added 15 points, Trinity Turner scored 11 and Mia Woolfolk had 10 for the Bulldogs (13-18), who will play No. 5 Oklahoma in the second round Thursday.
Izzy Higginbottom scored 38 points to lead the Razorbacks (10-22), who scored just two points in the final 3:29.
Flournoy’s field goal started an 8-3 run that got Georgia within a point early in the fourth quarter. The Razorbacks rebuilt the lead to four, but consecutive baskets by Woolfolk, Avinger and Turner gave the Bulldogs the lead for good, 74-72, with 2:01 left.
Georgia held a 24-18 edge at the end of the first quarter and scored the first four points of the second quarter before Higginbottom took over. She scored 18 points during a 23-9 run that gave the Razorbacks a 41-37 halftime lead.
No. 9 Tennessee 77, No. 16 Texas A&M 37
Talaysia Cooper came off the bench to record 19 points and eight rebounds and the Volunteers overcame a slow start to dominate the Aggies in the first game of the tournament.
Jewel Spear and Zee Spearman added 11 points each, and Samara Spencer scored 10 for Tennessee, which outscored Texas A&M 66-24 in the final three quarters.
Sahara Jones led Texas A&M (10-19) with 16 points.
The Volunteers (22-8) will face No. 8 Vanderbilt in the second round Thursday.
Tennessee’s defense held the Aggies to 26.5 percent shooting and Texas A&M made just 1 of 15 3-pointers.
The Volunteers forced 32 turnovers and committed just seven, leading to a 37-5 advantage in points off turnovers.
No. 11 Florida 60, No. 14 Auburn 50
Ra Shaya Kyle finished with 16 points and 11 rebounds as the Gators held off the Tigers.
Jeriah Warren added 14 points, Laila Reynolds scored 12 and Liv McGill had 11 points and eight assists for the Gators (15-16), who ended a three-game losing streak and will play No. 6 Alabama in the second round on Thursday.
DeYona Gaston had 16 points and 11 rebounds and Yuting Deng scored 10 to lead the Tigers (12-18), who lost their seventh consecutive game.
The lead changed hands twice and the score was tied three times in the third quarter before Florida took a 44-40 lead at the end of the period. The Gators increased the margin to six points twice before Auburn got within two points with 2:33 left, but Florida scored the next five points.
No. 10 Mississippi State 75, No. 15 Missouri 55
Jerkaila Jordan scored 21 points and Destiney McPhaul led a second-half surge by the Bulldogs in a victory over the Tigers.
McPhaul scored 16 of her 19 points as Mississippi State (21-10) outscored Missouri 43-16 in the second half. The Bulldogs’ Madina Okot finished with 12 points and eight rebounds and Eniya Russell added 10 points.
The Bulldogs, who finished with a 38-22 edge in points in the paint, will play No. 7 Ole Miss in the second round on Thursday.
Ashton Judd had 15 points and seven rebounds and Nyah Wilson scored 11 for Missouri (14-18), which held a 39-32 halftime lead but shot 19.4 percent from the floor in the second half while making 1 of 11 3-point attempts.
–Field Level Media
