Clara Strack scored a career-high-tying 33 points, Teonnie Key had a double-double and No. 9 Kentucky pulled away from No. 22 Georgia 76-61 in the second-round opener of the SEC women’s tournament Thursday afternoon in Greenville, S.C.
Key finished with 14 points and 12 rebounds, Tonie Morgan scored 14 points and Strack added eight rebounds for the ninth-seeded Wildcats (23-9), who trailed by one point at halftime but outscored the eighth-seeded Bulldogs (22-9) 19-13 in the third quarter and 22-12 in the fourth.
Dani Carnegie scored 18 points, Trinity Turner had 14 and Mia Woolfolk added 11 to lead Georgia, which shot just 37.9% in the second half and made just 2 of 12 3-pointers (16.7%) after halftime.
Kentucky, which shot 50% from the floor for the game, will face top-seeded South Carolina in the quarterfinals Friday.
No. 7 Oklahoma 82, Florida 64
Raegan Beers scored 18 points, Aaliyah Chavez had 17 and the fifth-seeded Sooners took control by scoring the first 10 points of the third quarter.
The fifth-seeded Sooners (24-6) went on to outscore the 12th-seeded Gators 27-7 in the period and expand their two-point halftime lead to 67-45. Zya Vann added 14 points and Brooklyn Stewart scored 12 for Oklahoma, which will face fourth-seeded LSU in the quarterfinals Friday.
Liv McGill scored 28 points, making 13 of 17 free throws, and grabbed eight rebounds and Me’Arah O’Neal added 10 points to lead Florida (18-15). McGill had nine of her team’s 24 turnovers.
–Field Level Media
