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COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Zia Cooke had 20 points, and No. 1 South Carolina beat No. 22 Tennessee 69-48 for its 15th straight win. Aliyah Boston scored 10 points for the Gamecocks before limping off the court in the third quarter. The 6-foot-5 freshman is the team's leading scorer and rebounder. Coach Dawn Staley said Boston would be fine and she would have returned if the Gamecocks were playing a championship game. Rennia Davis had 18 points and 10 rebounds for Tennessee.
COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — Amber Tolefree scored a career-high 35 points and Taylah Thomas made two free throws with 7.2 seconds left in overtime as No. 25 Arkansas rallied to beat Missouri 85-81, erasing a 13-point deficit in the last five minutes of regulation. The Razorbacks outscored the Tigers 23-15 in the fourth quarter. After a 6-0 Arkansas spurt in OT, Aijha Blackwell cut it to one with 19.4 seconds to go but after A'tyanna Gaulden made 1 of two free throws at 17.4, the Tigers missed a contested inside shot, allowing Thomas to seal the game. Amber Smith scored 22 points for Mizzou.
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Khayla Pointer scored nine of her 18 points in the fourth quarter and Jailin Cherry hit two free throws with 4.3 seconds left and LSU beat No. 15 Texas A&M for the second time, pulling out a 59-58 victory. After Cherry's free throws made it 59-55, Kayla Wells hit a 3-pointer from the left corner with 2.1 seconds left. Faustine Aifuwa scored 18 points and grabbed a career-high 16 rebounds to help the Tigers overcome the loss of Ayana Mitchell with a left knee injury late in the first half. Wells and Aaliyah Wilson scored 18 points apiece for A&M.
LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) — Freshman Lavender Briggs scored nine of her 18 points in a 25-5 fourth-quarter blitz that rallied Florida to a 70-62 win over No. 13 Kentucky. Playing their second-straight game without star Rhyne Howard, who has a broken finger, the Wildcats scored the first five points of the fourth quarter to take a 51-43 lead. Briggs started the comeback with a 3-pointer and her 3 at 5:12 put the Gators up 54-53. She added a layup then hit a free throw with 59 seconds left for a 68-56 lead. Kentucky was led by Chasity Patterson with a career-high 25 points.
AUBURN, Ala. (AP) — Samir Doughty scored 23 points while making 14 of 15 free throws and No. 17 Auburn finished strong in a 75-66 win over 13th-ranked Kentucky in an NCAA Tournament rematch. Isaac Okoro made a key 3-pointer and scored 14 points for the Tigers, who dominated the final four minutes. It wasn't nearly as big as their 77-71 overtime victory over the Wildcats that vaulted Auburn to its first Final Four last season, but it moved the Tigers into a tie for second place in the SEC.
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Javonte Smart scored 13 of his season-high 21 points in the last 16 minutes, and No. 22 LSU increased its winning streak to 10 games with a 73-63 victory over struggling Mississippi. Marlon Tayor had 13 points and 11 rebounds and freshman Trendon Watford scored 13 points for LSU (17-4, 8-0 SEC), which is off to its best start in conference play in 39 years. Devontae Shuler scored a career-high 28 for Ole Miss (10-11, 1-7), which lost two straight and eight of its last nine.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Keyontae Johnson scored 20 points and Florida handed Vanderbilt its 26th consecutive Southeastern Conference loss, adding to the Commodores' dubious league record, beating them 61-55. Noah Locke added 17 points, including five 3-pointers, for the Gators. Vanderbilt struggled from 3-point range early, before hitting 6 of 22 from beyond the arc.
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) — Mason Jones scored 30 points and Jimmy Whitt Jr. added 26 as Arkansas beat Alabama 82-78, ending Alabama’s eight-game home winning streak. Jones and Whitt carried the Arkansas offense throughout the game, combining for nearly 70% of the Razorbacks points. Arkansas entered the game first in the country in 3-point defense, allowing opponents to shoot 24.6% from behind the arc, and Alabama entered fourth in the country in 3-point field goals made, so something had to give. Alabama made its first two 3-point shots as part of 12-0 run to open the game, but then missed their next nine and finished 8 of 31 from deep overall (26%). Jaden Shackelford had five of those 3-pointers for Alabama and tied his career high with 28 points.
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