Mikayla Blakes scored 24 points, Khamil Pierre had a double-double and Vanderbilt defeated No. 18 Tennessee 84-76 in the second round of the SEC women’s tournament Thursday afternoon in Greenville, S.C.
Pierre had 16 points and 15 rebounds before fouling out, and Iyana Moore added 23 points for the No. 8 seed Commodores (22-9), who will face No. 5 and top-seeded South Carolina (27-3) in the quarterfinals on Friday.
Ruby Whitehorn scored 14 points off the bench and starters Talaysia Cooper, Jewel Spear and Samara Spencer scored 13 each for the No. 9 seed Volunteers (22-9).
Vanderbilt, which took control by extending a six-point halftime lead to 15 at the end of the third quarter, made one fewer field goal than Tennessee made. But the Commodores shot 6 of 16 on 3-pointers compared to 9 of 29 for the Volunteers and 16 of 22 on free throws compared to 3 of 8 for Tennessee.
No. 10 Oklahoma 70, Georgia 52
Raegan Beers had 22 points and eight rebounds and No. 5 seed Oklahoma never trailed in winning its eighth consecutive game with the second-round victory.
Liz Scott added 11 points and eight rebounds and Zya Vann scored 10 for the Sooners (24-6), who will face No. 12-ranked and fourth-seeded Kentucky (22-6) in the quarterfinals on Friday.
Trinity Turner scored 12, Roxane Makolo had 11 and De’Maury Flournoy 10 to lead the No. 12 seed Bulldogs (13-19).
Oklahoma led 36-29 at halftime and took command by outscoring Georgia 15-7 in the third quarter. The Sooners finished with 27 assists on 29 field goals.
Florida 63, No. 19 Alabama 61
Liv McGill scored 29 points as the No. 11 seed Gators held off the No. 6 Crimson Tide.
Ra Shaya Kyle added 12 points and Laila Reynolds scored 10 Florida (16-16), who will play No. 9 ranked and No. 3 seed LSU in the quarterfinals Friday night.
Sarah Ashlee Barker logged 24 points, Aaliyah Nye had 13 and Zaay Green 11 to lead Alabama (23-8).
Florida had an eight-point lead with less than a minute to play, but Alabama got within one on a Barker layup with 16 seconds left. After the Gators’ Laila Reynolds made 1 of 2 free throws, the Crimson Tide had a chance to tie or go ahead, but they missed two shots in the final seconds.
Ole Miss 85, Mississippi State 73
Madison Scott and Kennedy Todd-Williams scored 20 points each and the No. 7 seed Rebels outscored the No. 10 seed Bulldogs in every quarter.
Sira Thienou added 13 points and Christeen Iwuala scored 11 for the Rebels (20-9), who will play No. 1 ranked and No. 2 seed Texas in the quarterfinals Friday night.
Madina Okot had 14 points and 10 rebounds, Jerkaila Jordan scored 14, Destiney McPhaul had 11 and Chandler Prater and Eniya Russell added 10 each for the Bulldogs (21-11).
–Field Level Media
