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.
–Field Level Media
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