OXFORD, Miss. - Christina Foggie scored 28 points as No. 24 Vanderbilt outlasted Ole Miss 80-74 on Thursday night.
Vanderbilt (15-3, 4-1 SEC) began to pull away in the second half as Foggie scored seven points in a span of 1:18 to give the Commodores a 65-60 lead with under 6 minutes left.
A three-pointer from Valencia McFarland cut the Vanderbilt lead to 70-67 with 3:32 left before Vanderbilt responded with an 8-1 run to open a 78-68 lead with 1:24 remaining.
The Commodores outscored Ole Miss 43-36 in the second half, after trailing by a point at halftime.
Jasmine Lister had 17 points for Vanderbilt and Morgan Batey added 11.
McFarland led Ole Miss (9-9, 0-4) with a career-high 28 points. Tia Faleru added 20 points.
The Commodores have won 12 of their last 13, and recently entered the rankings following an upset of No. 8 Tennessee.
NO. 25 TEXAS A&M 67, NO. 8 S. CAROLINA 65, OT
COLLEGE STATION, Texas - Karla Gilbert scored Texas A&M’s first two baskets of overtime in heavy traffic in the paint, and Jordan Jones followed with a pivotal steal and layup to help the 25th-ranked Aggies to a victory over No. 8 South Carolina.
A&M had a big lead early on, but South Carolina’s Tiffany Mitchell banked in a three-pointer in the final seconds of regulation, tying it at 56.
Four Aggies scored in double figures, with Courtney Walker’s 18 points leading the way. Jones had four steals, including the big play that gave A&M a 62-58 lead in overtime.
Aleighsa Welch had 20 points for South Carolina (16-2, 4-1 Southeastern Conference).
Texas A&M (14-4, 4-0) led 34-17 at halftime and appeared en route to a surprisingly easy victory. But the Gamecocks roared back, outscoring the Aggies 39-22 in the second half.
NO. 12 TENNESSEE 67, MISSISSIPPI ST. 63
STARKVILLE, Miss. - Ariel Massengale and Bashaara Graves both scored 13 points, Isabelle Harrison added 10 and No. 12 Tennessee survived a tough challenge from Mississippi State before escaping with a victory.
Tennessee (14-3, 3-2 Southeastern Conference) has won all 35 games in the series against Mississippi State (14-4, 1-3), but this one was a challenge.
The Lady Vols led 26-23 at halftime and never trailed in the second half. But the Bulldogs cut the lead to 64-61 on a pair of Breanna Richardson free throws with 26.4 seconds left.
Tennessee got a break on the ensuing possession when Mississippi State’s Ketara Chapel committed a foul before the ball was thrown inbounds. Candace Foster made 1 of 2 free throws to put the Lady Vols up 65-61.
Tennessee shot 49 percent (24 of 49) from the field, but had 22 turnovers.
NO. 14 LSU 87, MISSOURI 68
COLUMBIA, Mo. - Jeanne Kennedy scored 30 points to lead No. 14 LSU over Missouri.
The Lady Tigers (14-3, 3-1) shot 50 percent overall and 13 of 19 (68 percent) from beyond the arc. Theresa Plaisance added 15 points and seven boards, while Anne Pedersen chipped in with 13.
Missouri (13-5, 2-3) didn’t play poorly - it shot 40 percent from the floor and 40 percent (11 of 28) on three-pointers - but just couldn’t keep up. Missouri was led by Brianna Kulas with 30 points, while Jordan Frericks and Morgan Stock both scored 11. Frericks added 11 rebounds.
Missouri jumped out quickly to take a 12-2 lead after almost four minutes, but LSU clawed back to lead by two at the break, 42-40.
LSU pulled away in the second without going on a run, consistently scoring three buckets for every two by Missouri to gradually grind out the victory.
Sports, Pages 25 on 01/17/2014