Meanwhile, Chantelle Anderson, Zuzi Klimesova and Ashley McElhiney had 19 points each as sixth-ranked Vanderbilt (21-5, 7-3) defeated No. 25 Mississippi State (16-8, 7-4) 72-53 Sunday.

Thomas scored just 14 points for Mississippi State _ 10 under her average _ and White, a freshman who had been averaging 19.2, finished with just 11.

"Thomas and White are as good as anybody in the league," Foster said. "They got the ball in other players' hands, and we didn't adjust. But (Mississippi State) scored 53 points, and I'm not going to focus on who scored what. I thought we had a terrific defensive performance."

Vanderbilt scored the game's first 10 points and took a 15-4 lead on Klimesova's 3-pointer nine minutes into the game. The Commodores extended the margin to 37-15 on Jenni Benningfield's 3-pointer with 31 seconds left in the half before Jessica Carter hit a buzzer-beating 3-pointer for the Bulldogs.

Carter opened the second period with consecutive 3-pointers as Mississippi State scored the first seven points of the half.

Thomas followed with baskets on three straight possessions for the Bulldogs, keeping them within 12 points (43-31).

Five straight points from Anderson gave Vanderbilt a 48-31 lead, but Carter hit three more 3-pointers, the last making it 52-42 with 9:49 left.

Mississippi State was without senior forward Jennifer Fambrough, who will have back surgery Monday and is not expected back before the SEC Tournament.

"Jennifer's the only senior on the team," Mississippi State coach Sharon Fanning said. "She's definitely a primary scorer for us, and her experience, when you're having games like that, helps you get out of them.

"We got Jessica to the corner, and we tried to screen for LaToya and Tan. Jessica did her job, shooting the open shot, and we did our job as a team in the second half. We made some adjustments to get that 3-point look. We just didn't guard hard enough."

Nursing a 10-point lead, Vanderbilt went on a 12-0 run to match its biggest advantage of the game at 64-42 with 5:20 remaining. From there, Mississippi State got no closer than 17 points.

Klimesova scored 14 of her points in the first half and Anderson had 15 of hers in the second as the Bulldogs were unable defend both. Anderson finished with five assists _ four in the first half, most on passes to Klimesova.

"I think the game plan was to not let me get shots off in the first half," Anderson said "Zuzi did a great job of moving to the open areas, and I was able to find her.

"I think that's what makes our team so difficult to defend. We have so many offensive weapons. I'm not one of those players that would rather get huge numbers and lose. It speaks to our overall talent and unselfishness as well."

No. 3 Tennessee 52, No. 22 Georgia 50
ATHENS, Ga. (AP) _ Tennessee Coach Pat Summitt called it ``one of the ugliest wins we have had.''

The third-ranked Lady Vols made only five of 27 field goals in the second half, but beat No. 22 Georgia 52-50 Sunday behind Kara Lawson's driving layup with 1:06.

``This was one of those games where we couldn't throw a BB in the ocean,'' Summitt said. ``We just hung on. We were fortunate when the horn sounded that we were up by two.''

Georgia's Kara Braxton nearly sent the game into overtime but her layup, contested by April McDivitt, rolled off the rim at the buzzer.

Gwen Jackson and Shyra Ely led Tennessee (20-2, 9-1 SEC) with 12 points, and Lawson added 11. Mary Beth Lycett led Georgia (15-8, 4-7) with 14.

Jackson hit a short jumper with 13:12 to play in the game to give the Lady Vols a 44-35 lead. Tennessee would not score another field goal until Jackson hit again with 3:02 to play to tie the game at 48.

Braxton's short jumper put Georgia back ahead but April McDivitt hit a pair of free throws with 2:18 to play to tie the game.

Georgia committed one of its 28 turnovers on its next possession. Lawson then dribbled the shot clock down before penetrating for her decisive finger roll.

Tennessee trailed 10-8 seven minutes into the game before the Lady Vols went on a 16-2 run over a five-minute stretch, building a 21-12 lead. Reserve Shyra Ely scored six points during the run.

The Lady Vols led 35-20 with 2:08 to go in the half after a 3-pointer by Lawson, but Georgia scored seven straight points to end the half, forcing three Tennessee turnovers to close the halftime gap to 35-27.

``You have to credit their physical play,'' Lawson said of Tennessee's offensive troubles. ``I think we got a lot of looks, but we were not able to knock them down.''

``We played with intensity, and we played hard,'' Georgia coach Andy Landers said. ``But playing hard won't get it done. You have to play smart.''

Georgia outrebounded Tennessee 46-30, but the Lady Dogs continued their season-long carelessness, turning the ball over 28 times, including twice in the final minute.

``That will change when the players want it to change,'' Landers said. ``We don't have to get 10 pounds heavier or a step quicker. We just have to quit giving in to temptation.''

No. 9 South Carolina 74, Kentucky 73
LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) _ The last time South Carolina played Kentucky, the Gamecocks dominated the Wildcats.

It took composure and clutch shooting down the stretch in the rematch as the ninth-ranked Gamecocks barely escaped with a 74-73 victory Sunday.

Jocelyn Penn scored 21 points, and Shaunzinski Gortman had 15 points and 10 rebounds to lead South Carolina (20-3, 8-2 Southeastern Conference), which has won three straight and 16 of its last 18 games.

Cristina Ciocan added 13 points and Tatyana Troina had 10 for the Gamecocks, whose 78-49 win over Kentucky last month was the largest against an SEC team in the program's history.

``As a ranked team, everyone is going to come at us,'' said Ciocan, who made 6-of-10 shots and dished out seven assists. ``We expected them to come out strong, especially after the last time we played them.''

SeSe Helm scored 24 points and Sara Potts had a career-high 21 to lead Kentucky (8-15, 1-10), which dropped its ninth straight game.

The Wildcats were determined to go out and prove they were a much better team than it appeared in Columbia.

``I got sick to my stomach watching the film,'' said Potts, who shot 3-for-7 on 3-pointers. ``We wanted to set the tone from the beginning and show that we are a much more confident team than when we played them before.''

Down 14-13, Kentucky went on a 10-0 run to go up 23-14 midway through the first half. The Wildcats led 33-29 with 4:27 to play, but a 17-3 run to end the half gave the Gamecocks a 46-36 halftime lead.

``We came out fearless and ready to get after it,'' Kentucky coach Bernadette Mattox said. ``We didn't defend when we were down in South Carolina. We were lethargic, and that's just not us.''

Turnovers gave South Carolina the opportunity to get back in the game. The Gamecocks scored 18 points off 13 Kentucky turnovers, most of which came during the final eight minutes of the half.

As it did in the opening minutes of the game, Kentucky controlled the tempo and regained the lead early in the second half.

LaTonya McDole scored seven of her nine points and Potts added six during a 19-4 run to open the half, giving the Wildcats a 55-50 lead with 11:42 to play.

``At halftime, we talked about how we didn't execute the last eight minutes or so of the half,'' Mattox said. ``We allowed their press to turn us over.

``I just told them that we were too good of a press-breaking team to allow their pressure to disturb us. We came out in the second half, went right through the press and started executing our offense.''

Down five, Ciocan scored four points during a 14-6 run to put the Gamecocks back on top 64-61 with 5:33 to play.

``There was maybe a two-or three-minute lapse in each half where I thought we were able to get out and make a little bit of a run,'' South Carolina coach Susan Walvius said. ``That made all the difference in the world.''

Helm hit two free throws to give Kentucky a 67-66 lead with 3:32 to play. But Ciocan's runner in traffic and Penn's basket inside gave South Carolina the lead for good, 70-68, with 2:30 remaining.

Down 74-70 in the closing moments, Kentucky nearly stole the game. Potts drained a long 3 with 4.2 seconds to play to cut the lead to one.

Gortman missed a free throw with 3.8 seconds left, but Kentucky could not get the ball back downcourt to take a final desperation shot before the buzzer.

``We've learned how to win ball games this year,'' Walvius said. ``That's a big step this team has taken.''

Kentucky shot 55 percent to South Carolina's 49 percent but lost the rebounding battle 34-28, including a 16-8 margin at the offensive end.

No. 14 Florida 74, Mississippi 73
OXFORD, Miss. (AP) _ Brandi McCain scored 21 points as No. 14 Florida held off Mississippi 74-73 Sunday.

Tara Taylor missed two free throws with nine seconds left to give Ole Miss the ball down by one. But Florida's defense didn't let the Rebels get a shot off.

Monique Cardenas and Vanessa Hayden each scored 14 for Florida (16-7, 6-4 Southeastern Conference).

Mississippi (11-13, 3-8) was led by Von Kirk and Saundra Jackson, who each scored 16.

Ole Miss shot 38.1 percent for the game. Florida shot 41 percent.

Arkansas 80, LSU 71
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (AP) _ Shameka Christon's 25 points helped lead Arkansas to an 80-71 win over LSU on Sunday.

The game was tied at 71 with about 3:30 to play, but a free throw by Christon gave Arkansas the edge. A quick steal gave the Lady Razorbacks another basket, and they hung on to win.

Also in double figures for Arkansas was Dana Cherry, with 23 points, India Lewis with 13 and Shanna Harmon with 10. Christon also grabbed nine rebounds.

The Lady Tigers were led in scoring by Aiysha Smith, with 19 points. Doneeka Hodges scored 16, Scholanda Dorrell had 11 and Ke-Ke Tardy had 10.

LSU committed 13 turnovers in the game, and the Lady Razorbacks converted them into 18 points.

The Lady Razorbacks completed 33 of 62 field goals, or 53.2 percent, in the game, compared to 28 of 62, or 45.2 percent, for LSU.