GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) - Vanessa Hayden and Monique Cardenas scored 19 points each as No. 18 Florida beat No. 17 Georgia 73-64 Sunday.

The Lady Gators (15-5, 5-2 Southeastern Conference) built a huge first-half lead and then held off a desperate rally from the Lady Bulldogs (14-5, 3-4) to win their third consecutive game.

Florida had lost 11 of its last 13 meetings with Georgia, but now has won two straight over the Lady Dawgs.

Trailing by as many as 21 in the first half, Georgia used a 16-4 run early in the second to cut Florida's lead to 49-40 with 12:54 remaining. The Bulldogs kept it close and made it a four-point game on Mary Beth Lycett's 3-pointer with 1:59 to play.

But Florida pulled away, hitting six of its last eight foul shots.

Christi Thomas scored 21 points, and Kara Braxton added 16 for Georgia, which has lost four of six.

The Lady Gators looked to have this one put away early. Florida used a 31-9 run to pull ahead 34-13 with 3:45 left in the first half.

Cardenas scored nine points during the spurt, and Georgia could not establish any kind of offensive flow against Florida's post-conscious defense.

By halftime, Georgia had more turnovers (9) than baskets (7).

The second half was a different story. The Lady Bulldogs, the league's worst perimeter shooting team, made six 3-pointers to cut into the lead.

It wasn't enough to offset Hayden and Cardenas. Hayden had her way inside, making 7-of-12 shots, while Cardenas was 7-of-10.

No. 2 Tennessee 66, No. 22 Auburn 53

AUBURN, Ala. -Kara Lawson scored 23 points and had eight rebounds as No. 2 Tennessee won its sixth straight game, beating No. 22 Auburn 66-53 Sunday.

Tennessee (17-1, 6-0 Southeaster Conference) shot 45.5 percent while holding Auburn to just 29.7 percent. Auburn (14-6, 2-5) remained in a slump. The Tigers have lost three of their last four games.

Auburn came within four points with 2:48 remaining. Ezria Parsons passed to Le'Coe Willingham who dropped in a layup, making the score 57-53.

But it was all Tennessee after that. The Lady Vols went on a 7-0 run in the final 2:32 that started with jump-shot by Lawson.

Auburn had been in the game all along.

The Tigers came within four when Natasha Brackett made a free throw after being fouled by Lawson, bringing the score to 33-29.

Tennessee led 33-23 at halftime after shooting 50 percent and holding the Tigers to just 29 percent.

Willingham led Auburn with 14 points, including four 3-point shots, and 13 rebounds. Brackett scored 13.

Ashley Robinson added 10 points for Tennessee.

Tennessee has won the last six meetings at Auburn, part of its dominance of the SEC. The Lady Vols have won 17 straight conference road games since a loss at Georgia in January 2000.

No. 6 Vanderbilt 64, LSU 53

MARY FOSTER
AP Sports Writer

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) - Chantelle Anderson scored 28 points and grabbed 10 rebounds and Zuzi Klimesova scored 24 points as No. 6 Vanderbilt beat LSU 64-53 Sunday.

LSU, with only two starters over 6-feet, couldn't stop the 6-6 Anderson and the 6-2 Klimesova.

Vanderbilt (19-4, 5-2 Southeastern Conference) led by as many as 22 points in the second half.

LSU (11-7, 4-3) snapped a three-game winning streak. The Tigers had won five straight games at home.

LSU was led by Alysha Smith's 16 points. Ke-Ke Tardy scored 12, and Temeka Johnson had 11 points and five assists.

Ashley McElhiney had eight assists for Vanderbilt.

LSU outrebounded Vanderbilt 33-32 despite the Commodores' size advantage. The Tigers, after getting no offensive rebounds in the first half, finished with 11.

Vanderbilt, the nation's best shooting team at 54.3 percent, shot 57 percent. LSU shot 46 percent, but made just 3-of-11 foul shots. Both teams were cold from 3-point range. Vanderbilt made 2-of-9, LSU 2-of-7.

Vanderbilt jumped out to a 13-2 lead. While Vandy was making 7-of-10, LSU missed five straight.

The Commodores took a 23-6 lead with 8:28 remaining in the first half. By that time, Anderson and Klimesova each had 10 points, with Venessa Ferragamo's 3 Vanderbilt's only other points.

Roneeka Hodges' basket at 7:02 sparked an 8-2 LSU run that cut the deficit to 25-14 with 4:32 left in the half.

The Commodores stretched their lead to 17 with 3:03 left on a basket by Klimesova. But the Tigers staged a small rally over the closing minutes, outscoring Vanderbilt 8-2 to cut it to 34-22 at the half.

Arkansas 74, No. 7 South Carolina 46

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (AP) - Arkansas had never played this well over a team this good.

India Lewis and Dana Cherry keyed first-half runs and finished with 17 points each Sunday, leading Arkansas to a 74-46 victory over No. 7 South Carolina.

The win was the largest in the 26-year history of the Lady Razorbacks over any ranked team, and the first time they beat a Top Ten team since March 23, 1998.

``We made a very, very good team look average today,'' Arkansas coach Gary Blair said. ``We had to do it our way by forcing turnovers and setting the atmosphere.''

The Lady Gamecocks (17-3, 5-2 Southeastern Conference) were missing star forward Teresa Geter, who is sidelined with a stress fracture in her left foot.

No South Carolina player scored in double figures, and the team made only 15 of 57 field goals. The Lady Gamecocks also shot only 9-for-20 on free throws.

``Arkansas really took it to us today,'' South Carolina coach Susan Walvius said. ``They did a great job offensively and defensively.''

Arkansas (11-8, 2-5) forced 16 turnovers in the first half and 10 in the second half.

After being down 7-0, Arkansas went on a 17-point run, keyed by Lewis' seven points.

South Carolina drew to 22-21, helped by 3-pointers from Tatyana Troina, Kelly Morrone and Ines Ajanovic. The Lady Razorbacks finished the half with a 13-3 run, including a layup and a jumper by Shameka Christon, another 3 by Lewis and a couple of layups by Cherry for a 35-24 halftime lead.

Christon and Lewis each scored 10 points in the first half, and Cherry scored 8. Christon finished the game with 13.

In the second half, South Carolina twice trimmed Arkansas' lead to 7 _ both on shots by Shaunzinski Gortman _ but came no closer.

Mississippi State 87, Ole Miss 66

OXFORD, Miss. - Four Lady Rebels scored in double digits, led by Saundra Jackson’s 15 points, but it wasn’t enough to get the win as Mississippi State exploded on offense on the way to a 87-66 win on Sunday.

The Lady Rebels fell behind early, as Mississippi State jumped out to a 17-1 lead, and were never able to catch up. Ole Miss clawed its way back into the game with the inside presence of Jackson, who connected on four-straight baskets to cut the lead to nine with two minutes left in the half. However, Mississippi State scored the last four points of the first period to lead 38-25 at the half.

"We have got to play tough and more aggressive if we want things to start happening for us," said Ole Miss head coach Ron Aldy. "They did better on the boards and did a better job of putting the ball in the hole."

Mississippi State opened up the second half with an 8-2 run before the Lady Rebels turned up the defensive and began to play with some intensity of their own.

The Lady Rebels used their defense to fuel their offense as they forced 21 turnovers for 21 points, but it wasn’t enough to close the gap. Ally Kelly and Von Kirk both notched 11 points and Amber Watts put up 10 points, pulled down 5 rebounds and blocked three shots before fouling out late in the game. Sherika Wright had seven assists, six steals and four points.

Ole Miss shot 39.7 percent from the field, including making just 6-of-19 from the three-point line. The Lady Rebels hit 14-of-22 free throws. UM’s bench outscored MSU’s bench 45-16.

MSU made 30-of-62 from the field, good for 48.4 percent and hit 6-of-11 from behind the arc. The Lady Bulldogs got 29 points and 12 rebounds from junior All-American LaToya Thomas to lead all scorers. Freshman Tan White also recorded a double-double with 21 points and 11 boards. White also had seven assists and three steals. Mississippi State out-rebounded Ole Miss 46-32.

Alabama 61, Kentucky 58

LEXINGTON, Ky. - Kentucky battled back from a 14-point second half deficit, but could not hold off Alabama in the closing seconds, falling 61-58 at Memorial Coliseum on Sunday.

The Wildcats (8-12, 1-7 Southeastern Conference), sparked by a 21-2 run in the second period, led by as many as five points with ten minutes to play, but Shondra Johnson’s 17 second-half points for the Crimson Tide (13-7, 3-4 SEC) proved to much for UK.

"I’m very proud of our basketball team today," UK Coach Bernadette Mattox said. "Our players made the necessary adjustments which really showed maturity and growth. This team fought hard and battled out there, we just came up short."

Senior LaTonya McDole scored a team-high 15 points for the Cats, who dropped their sixth-straight SEC game since defeating Alabama, 63-62, in Tuscaloosa on Jan. 6. McDole scored in double figures for the first time in five games and her 15 points tied a season-high set against Louisville on Dec. 20. Freshman Sara Potts, suffering through a foot injury, tossed in 14 points on 5-of-9 shooting from the floor, including a season-high four three-pointers.

"I’m sore but I had to step up and play today," Potts said. "My teammates made good passes and got the ball to me when I was open for the shot. I wish a few more would have went down, we would have won the game."

Alabama (13-7, 3-4 SEC) held UK leading scorer SeSe Helm to a season-low eight points, breaking a 19-game double-digit scoring streak. Helm had a game-high 23 points against the Tide in Tuscaloosa.

"Our game plan was to not let anyone have a career-night on us," Alabama Coach Rick Moody said. "SeSe (Helm) killed us in Tuscaloosa so every time she touched the ball we had two people on her."

Johnson led all scorers with 21 points, connecting on 11-of-13 attempts from the charity stripe. The senior guard nailed two free throws with 24 seconds left, giving UA the 59-58 edge and a lead it would not relinquish. Beth Vice, the 1998 Kentucky Miss Basketball from Mt. Sterling, Ky., was the only other Bama player in double figures. She put up 11 points on 3-of-7 shooting and drained two key free throws with three seconds remaining in the game to secure the 61-58 victory. The three-point margin continues the tradition of close games between the Cats and the Tide, as the past six games have been decided by seven points or less.

"It was a typical Kentucky versus Alabama game," Moody said. "The two teams refused to give up and Shondra (Johnson) made big-time shots to reestablish our momentum. I’m proud of our team to come through in the clutch and win on the road."

Alabama leads the all-time series 14-12 and snaps a two-game losing streak against the Cats when playing in Lexington. UK is 6-4 against the Tide in Memorial Coliseum.

Kentucky will have seven days to prepare for the 17th-ranked Georgia Lady Bulldogs who will visit Memorial Coliseum on Sunday, Feb. 3 at 2 p.m. ET.