GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) -- Michelle Snow had 12 points and eight rebounds as No. 2 Tennessee beat No. 15 Florida 88-64 Thursday night in its final tuneup before a weekend showdown with top-ranked Connecticut.

The Lady Volunteers (11-0, 1-0 Southeastern Conference) are off to their best start since the perfect 1997-98 season, when they went 39-0.

Tennessee plays host to the Huskies (15-0) on Saturday. Connecticut holds a 7-6 lead in the series, and has won four of the five games when the teams are ranked 1-2.

Kara Lawson and Latoya Davis also had 12 points for the Volunteers, who have won 23 straight road games, including 15 in the conference. The win over Florida ended a string of eight straight games away from Knoxville.

Florida (10-4, 0-1) was led by Vanessa Hayden's 15 points, nine rebounds and five blocked shots. Brandi McCain scored 12 points on 4-of-17 shooting with seven assists and Monique Cardena also had 12 points.

Florida made its first two shots, then missed 23 of its next 29 and shot 25.8 percent in the first half.

Typical of Florida's problems, Hayden -- the SEC's player of the week -- missed six of her first eight shots and sat down with 9:34 left in the first half after picking up her third foul. Snow was responsible for Hayden's misery on both ends of the court.

After Hayden left, Tennessee went on an 18-3 run over the next six minutes to take a 36-12 lead. Lawson had seven points in the run.

With Tennessee's starters on the bench, Florida closed the first half on an 8-2 run to make it 38-20.

But the Lady Volunteers put the game away by outscoring Florida 16-7 over the opening four minutes of the second half. The Gators couldn't get closer than 18 points.

Tennessee has won 29 of 30 games against the Gators, losing only in January 1997.

No. 14 South Carolina 71, No. 6 Vanderbilt 52
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) -- Jocelyn Penn scored 17 points to lead No. 14 South Carolina to a 71-52 victory over No. 6 Vanderbilt on Thursday night, continuing the Gamecocks' best start ever.

South Carolina (13-1) used a 18-2 run during the middle of the first half to pull away from the Commodores (12-3) and go on to a 37-21 halftime lead.

Penn had half of her 12 first-half points in the run.

Zuzana Klimensova had 17 points for the Commodores, who didn't get closer than 11 points in the second half.

Shaunzinski Gortman had 15 points and Kelly Morrone added 11 for South Carolina. The Gamecocks' largest lead of the game was 69-46 on a 3-pointer by Morrone with 2:21 left.

Chantelle Anderson, the Commodores' leading scorer at 20.9 points per game, was held scoreless in the first half. Her first point didn't come until a free throw early in the second half, then she picked up her fourth foul with 12:54 left in the game. She finished with three points.

The Gamecocks' aggressive defense got eight steals and forced the Commodores into 10 turnovers in the first half. Christina Ciocan hit a 3-pointer with 5:42 left to put the Gamecocks up 30-10 in the first half.

The Gamecocks shot 45 percent (10-for-22) from 3-point range. Gortman and Morrone each had three 3-pointers while Ciocan and Tatyana Triona each had two.

Vanderbilt leads the series 12-4 with all four of its losses in Columbia.

No. 8 Georgia 72, No. 23 LSU 56
ATHENS, Ga. (AP) -- Kara Braxton scored 16 points, all in the first half, and No. 8 Georgia coasted to a 72-56 victory over No. 23 LSU on Thursday night in the Southeastern Conference opener for both teams.

The Lady Bulldogs (11-0) scored the game's first 14 points with Mary Beth Lycett connecting on two 3-pointers. LSU (7-5) was held scoreless until Aiysha Smith scored on a putback nearly four minutes into the game. LSU was 6-for-36 from the field (17 percent) in the first half.

Georgia led 47-24 at halftime on 20-for-30 shooting, led by Braxton's 7-for-8, and stretched its lead to 51-26 on Ebony Felder's jumper with 16:16 to play.

LSU went on a 10-2 run to close within 56-41 after Ke-Ke Tardy's backdoor layup with 9:36 left, but the Lady Tigers never got any closer. A 3-pointer by Lycett and a putback by Felder made it 66-46 with 5:51 to go.

Georgia got 12 points from Felder and 11 from Lycett.

Mississippi State 59, Kentucky 54
LEXINGTON, Ky. (MSU Sports Information) -- Mississippi State's Tan White hit a late 3-pointer and a came up with a steal to complete a second-half comeback and give head coach Sharon Fanning's Lady Bulldogs a 59-54 win over Kentucky in the SEC opener for both teams Thursday night.

With the game tied at 54-54, White hit from behind the arc with 33 seconds left to give State (10-4, 1-0 SEC) the final lead of the contest at 57-54. Kentucky had a chance to tie the game, but White came up with one of her game-high seven steals with just 12 seconds left to seal the win at Memorial Arena. Jennifer Fambrough finished off UK (7-6, 0-1 SEC) with a pair of free throws with just 4 seconds remaining.

The Lady Bulldogs trailed 48-36 with 8:29 remaining in the contest, but State went on a 13-0 run to take their first lead at 49-48 with 5:48 left to play. Fambrough missed the front end of a free throw opportunity, but White came up with a big offensive rebound and found LaToya Thomas for the layup that gave MSU its first lead since the 12:12 mark of the first half.

Kentucky led the Lady Bulldogs 33-26 at halftime. In the opening stanza of play, MSU shot just 36 percent (12-of-33) from the floor, while the Lady Wildcats went 15-for-34 from the field (44 percent).

The second half was a different story, however. State once again hit on 12-of-33 opportunities from the floor, but the Lady Bulldog defense held Kentucky to just 29 percent (8-of-27).

White's late three-pointer gave her 10 points for the contest to preserve her 14-game double-digit scoring streak. She also claimed eight boards and three assists in 31 minutes of action.

Thomas picked up her fifth double-double of the season and the 25th of her career Thursday night. The Greenville, Miss., native poured in a game-high 21 points and pulled down 13 rebounds in the winning effort.

Fambrough was the other Lady Bulldog to hit double digits. The senior scored 16 points on 5-of-10 shooting, and she connected on five of her seven attempts from the charity stripe.

Ebonie Ferguson made her second career start for Fanning's Lady Bulldogs. Ferguson started at the point guard position in place on Renea Jones. Jones played six minutes in the contest coming back from an injury.