Raegan Beers had 20 points and 11 rebounds and No. 10 Oklahoma defeated No. 12 Kentucky 69-65 in the SEC tournament quarterfinals Friday afternoon in Greenville, S.C.
Payton Verhulst scored 16 and Sahara Williams had 13 for the fifth-seeded Sooners (25-6), who have won nine straight games going into their Saturday semifinal game against No. 5 and top-seeded South Carolina, which defeated Vanderbilt earlier Friday.
Georgia Amoore scored 29 points, Clara Strack added 12 points and 16 rebounds and Dazia Lawrence scored 11 to lead the fourth-seeded Wildcats (22-7), who lost for the fifth time in their last eight games.
The lead changed hands four times in the fourth quarter before Oklahoma took control down the stretch by holding Kentucky scoreless for more than three minutes.
No. 1 Texas 70, Ole Miss 63
Madison Booker compiled 19 points and seven rebounds as the second-seeded Longhorns held off the seventh-seeded Rebels for their 14th consecutive win.
Kyla Oldacre had 12 points, Shay Holle scored 11 and Taylor Jones added 10 for the Texas (30-2), which will play LSU in the semifinals on Saturday.
KK Deans scored 20 and Madison Scott had 14 points, nine rebounds and seven assists for Ole Miss (20-10).
Texas led 40-33 at the half and extended the lead to 53-40 at the end of the third quarter as Ole Miss missed its last 13 shots of the period. The Rebels got as close as two points midway through the fourth quarter but couldn’t pull even.
No. 5 South Carolina 84, Vanderbilt 63
Chloe Kitts had 25 points and 10 rebounds and the top-seeded Gamecocks pulled away from the Commodores in the first quarterfinal of the day.
MiLaysia Fulwiley scored 15, Sania Feagin had 13 points and nine rebounds and Joyce Edwards scored 12 for South Carolina.
Mikayla Blakes tallied 20 points, Khamil Pierre had 17 points and 10 rebounds and Iyana Moore scored 16 to lead the eighth-seeded Commodores (22-10).
South Carolina, which had lost twice in its last seven regular-season games, rolled to a 48-23 halftime lead. Vanderbilt closed within 68-63 on Blakes’ 3-pointer with 4:22 left in the game, but the Gamecocks scored the final 16 points.
No. 9 LSU 101, Florida 87
Aneesah Morrow amassed 36 points and 14 rebounds and the third-seeded Tigers never trailed while beating the 11-seed Gators.
Mikaylah Williams had 16 points and eight assists, Mjacle Sheppard scored 12 points and Kailyn Gilbert had 10 for LSU (28-4). The Tigers bounced back from consecutive losses to end the regular season and overcame the absence of leading scorer Flau’Jae Johnson, who is expected to miss at least the rest of the SEC tournament because of shin inflammation.
Liv McGill produced 16 points and six assists, Jeriah Warren had 14 points, Alexia Gassett scored 13, Ra Shaya Kyle added 11 points and 11 rebounds and Laila Reynolds and Alexia Dizeko scored 10 each to lead the Gators (16-17).
The Tigers led by 10 points after the first quarter, held a 53-34 halftime lead and were never threatened in the second half.
–Field Level Media
