"We just couldn't get the ball in the hole for awhile," said UA head coach Rick Moody. "Generally speaking I was real pleased with our effort and our rebounding. It was nice to see Jamilah step up tonight because we really needed that with our struggle to make an outside shot."

The Crimson Tide (5-0) held just a one-point lead at the half, 28-27, but opened the second period with a 9-2 run to widen their margin. Providence trimmed the UA advantage to just three points, 49-46, with 8:55 left in the game before Jamilah Johns sparked a 13-3 spurt by the Tide scoring three straight buckets in a run the put Bama up by double figures.

Alabama kept the pressure on and eventually led by as much as 18 as they cruised to the 72-56 victory. The win marked the 50th consecutive non-SEC home victory for the Tide.

Johns, a senior from Starkville, Miss., finished the game with a career-best 27 points on 11-of-15 shooting from the floor. She also finished with seven rebounds including three on the offensive end.

"I've waited a while for a game like this," said Johns. "In the past I didn't always work as hard but Coach Moody has shown a lot of confidence in me and I thank him for that."

The Tide has been one of the nation's top three-point shooting teams but struggled from the arc against the Friars going just 7 of 29. Beth Vice led the Bama perimeter attack with 11 points including 3 treys while Oreal Taylor also scored 11 in the UA victory. Freshman Dee Merriweather continues to be a force on the glass for the Tide hauling down a team-high eight rebounds.

Providence placed three players in double-digits with Michal Epstein and Jessica Simmonds sharing team honors with 13 points each. Gayle Nwafili led all rebounders with 11.

The Crimson Tide returns to tournament action this weekend when they visit Greenville, N.C., to participate in the US Cellular Invitational on Dec. 7-8. Alabama meets Liberty in the opening round of the event at 1 p.m. (ET) on Saturday and then will face either host team East Carolina or Bethune-Cookman on Sunday.

No. 23 South Carolina 75, Georgia Southern 54

By JEFFREY COLLINS
Associated Press Writer

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) -- Jocelyn Penn had 26 points and 11 rebounds as No. 23 South Carolina overcame sloppy play and beat Georgia Southern 75-54 Tuesday night.

The Gamecocks (5-0) turned the ball over 30 times and used a 20-5 run in the final 11 minutes to defeat the Eagles (3-2).

South Carolina offset sloppy play with crisp shooting, going 31-for-55 (56.4 percent) from the field, including Penn's 11-of-13.

The Eagles shot 23-for-73 (31.5 percent). The Gamecocks also grabbed 32 offensive boards to Georgia Southern's 16.

Kelly Morrone had 17 points, and Petra Ujhelyi added 13 points and 12 rebounds for South Carolina.

Mimi Lindsey led Georgia Southern with 14 points and seven rebounds, while Shawnica Hill added 12 points and six boards, and Tiffany Lanier registered 10 of the Eagles' 19 steals.

South Carolina extended a 10-point halftime lead to 51-38 with 16 minutes left.

The Gamecocks turned the ball over nine time in the next eight minutes, and Georgia Southern closed within 53-49 on Adrienne Early's jumper with 11:26 left.

But the Eagles missed 13 of their next 15 shots and turned the ball over seven times during South Carolina's 18-5 run.

The run took some time to develop. A layup by South Carolina's Vania Redd made it 55-49. The teams then combined to miss their next eight shots and commit six turnovers before Penn's layup gave the Gamecocks an eight-point lead with eight minutes left.

Coach Susan Walvius expanded her usual rotation of seven players to nine for the Gamecocks, who won two games last weekend at the Paradise Jam tournament in the U.S. Virgin Islands.

The Gamecocks closed out the first half with an 18-8 run and led 44-34 at the break.

Morrone hit her second 3-pointer of the half to break a 26-all tie with 6:30 to go.

Two possessions later, Morrone made another 3-pointer to give South Carolina a six-point lead. Morrone scored 12 points in the first half on 4-for-5 shooting from 3-point range.

Gamecocks take on Wofford on Wednesday night after a scheduling conflict at the Carolina Center forced the team to play on consecutive nights.

Georgia Southern, which has beaten South Carolina just once in 17 tries, has lost 33 straight games to ranked opponents.

Florida 76, Miami 67
GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Led by freshman Sara Lowe's 18 points, the Florida women's basketball team defeated the Miami Hurricanes 76-67 in a wire-to-wire game Tuesday night in the O'Connell Center. The Gators now have won eight consecutive games versus the Hurricanes and extended their winning streak against instate opponents to 42 straight.

Florida's freshmen continued to make huge contributions, as they combined for 56 points, 28 rebounds and 15 assists in the Gator victory. For the third time this season, a Gator freshman led the team in scoring as Lowe turned in a career-high offensive performance, in addition to adding nine rebounds, seven assists and four steals. Three other freshmen -- Brittany Davis (13), Danielle Santos (13) and Bernice Mosby (10) -- scored in double figures, as well. Vanessa Hayden led the upperclassmen with 14 points and 11 rebounds. Hayden also had seven blocked shots to up her streak of 52 consecutive games with a blocked shot.

Florida pounded the glass, as they outrebounded Miami 53-39. Hayden led the team with 11 rebounds. Santos came off the bench and grabbed eight boards. The Gators tallied 15 offensive rebounds, their third-highest total this season.

"The biggest stat I was impressed with was the offensive rebounds Miami had," UF head coach Carolyn Peck said. "That's been a problem area for us this season and there was a focus there tonight. I was pleased with our effort limiting them to 10."

In the opening half, the Gators missed their first seven shots and committed four quick turnovers as Miami opened with an 8-0 run. Bernice Mosby finally put the Gators on the board with a layup at 16:19 to start a 7-0 run. Lowe nailed a three-pointer to give Florida its first lead of the game, 12-10, with 13:55 left in the half. The Gator freshmen teamed up to score Florida's first 20 points. Florida held Miami scoreless from the 3-point line until 3:33 remaining in the first half. That sparked a 13-2 Hurricane run to close out the first half. The Gators headed into the locker room down by five as Miami led 36-31.

Brittany Davis made a layup to give Florida its first lead of the second half at 46-45 with 12 minutes left in the game. UF went on a 10-1 run to take the lead 48-44. Florida maintained its lead in the second half. Davis nailed a three-point play to give the Gators a 64-59 lead over the Hurricanes. Danielle Santos sank a three-pointer to give Florida a 69-61 edge over Miami. UM canned six consecutive free throws to close the gap 69-67 with one minute remaining. Vanessa Hayden tipped in the ball with 36 seconds left in the game. The Hurricanes sent Santos to the line where she sealed the win with two free throws and gave the Gators a 73-67 lead. Florida took three more trips to the line to finish the game 76-67.

Miami freshman Tamara James led the Hurricanes with 17 points and six rebounds, but she entered the game averaging 25.8 points and 12.3 rebounds. Chanivia Broussard added 16 points, seven rebounds and five blocks in 18 minutes, while Yalonda McCormick tallied 10 points in the loss.

The Gators next travel to Raleigh, NC, for the GlaxoSmithKline Invitational. UF faces Houston on Friday at 8:30 p.m. and plays either Washington or host N.C. State on Saturday.

Auburn 76, UAB 58
AUBURN, Ala. -- Auburn sophomore Natasha Brackett scored 17 points and junior Tia Miller recorded her second double-double of the season with 11 points and 11 rebounds as the Tigers defeated the UAB Blazers 76-58 at Beard-Eaves-Memorial-Coliseum. Auburn improves to 5-0 on the season while UAB falls to 1-3.

Auburn went on a 12-0 run to start the game and never trailed the rest of the way. Brackett scored eight of the Tigers' first 12 points during the run. Auburn stretched the lead to 20 during the first half and went into the locker room with a 43-28 edge over the Blazers.

In the second half, the Tigers increased the lead to 30 midway through the half. The Blazers fought back to within 17 but the Tigers closed out strong with a 76-58 win.

Auburn out-rebounded UAB 52-35 and held the Blazers leading scorer, Natasha Thomas, to just eight points.

"The maturity on defense was a big part of tonight's ball game," Auburn head coach Joe Ciampi said. "We were able to shut down their leading scorer. The team rebounded well tonight. They shot a lot of long shots, and we did a good job on the boards."

Auburn will return to action Saturday, Dec. 7, when it hosts Furman at 2 p.m.

Ole Miss 67, Arkansas Little-Rock 59
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. -- Sophomore center Amber Watts scored a career-high 22 points, grabbed seven rebounds, collected two steals and two blocks to lead Ole Miss to a 67-59 win over Arkansas-Little Rock on Tuesday night at Trojan Fieldhouse.

"Amber again was a force inside for us," said Ole Miss head coach Ron Aldy. "She got into foul trouble early in the second half, but they had a hard time keeping her away from the goal. She played smart down the stretch and showed some composure."

Ole Miss (4-0) jumped out to an early eight-point lead, but let UALR (0-5) creep back into the game, before heading to the locker room holding on to a 29-22 lead. Watts scored 10 of her 22 points and junior guard Tenisha Gist had seven points to pace the Lady Rebels in the first half of play.

Ole Miss started the second half red hot, pulling out to a 13-point lead before letting UALR back into the game. The Trojans pulled within three points at the 2:30 mark, but Watts made a lay-up off an assists from junior Genice Terry to hold off UALR. Watts made two free throws and a lay-up for the final difference.

"We got out to a good lead and then let-up a little too early," said Aldy. "I was proud of the way our girls regrouped and held off UALR. We rose the challenge and that is encouraging."

Gist finished the game with 12 points, five rebounds and tied a career-high with eight assists. Senior Leah Henley and juniors Carletta Brown and Terry each scored seven points, while junior Tia Watson finished with five points. Freshman Ashley Johnson scored three points and freshman Ellen Buchanan and sophomore Elizabeth Cansdale each posted two points.

Henley had a team-leading eight caroms, while Buchanan and Watson each pulled down four. Watson also dished out four assists, and Henley had three steals.

UALR was led by sophomore Darci Cassidy with 15 points and junior Charise Billingsley with 12 points. Senior Eplunus Brooks grabbed 13 rebounds and scored eight points for the Trojans.

Ole Miss connected on 27-of-67 (40.3 percent) shots from the field, including 6-of-22 (27.3) from the three-point line. The Lady Rebels recorded 16 assists, 10 steals and three blocks.

UALR made 40.4 percent of their shots from the field, including 25.0 percent from the three-point line. The hit 8-of-10 from the free throw line, good for 80.0 percent. The Trojans collected 16 assists, three steals and two blocks. UALR out-rebounded Ole Miss 43-35.

The Lady Rebels will return to action on Sunday, Dec. 8, when they host Lipscomb University in Tad Smith Coliseum. Game time is set for 2 p.m.