KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- Eleanna Christinaki had 18 points, 8 assists and 6 rebounds Thursday night as Florida withstood its coach's absence and capitalized on Tennessee's poor shooting in a 74-66 victory over the 12th-ranked Lady Volunteers.
Florida Coach Amanda Butler wasn't with the Gators, and assistant Shimmy Gray-Miller served as acting head coach. Florida athletic department spokesman Kathy Cafazzo said Butler was dealing with a family emergency.
Florida (13-2, 1-1 SEC) ended an 11-game losing streak in this series and beat the Lady Volunteers for the first time since a 66-57 victory on Feb. 8, 2009. Tennessee (10-4, 1-1) leads the all-time series 48-4.
Diamond DeShields scored 16 points and Bashaara Graves had a career-high 19 rebounds for Tennessee. After shooting 11 of 21 from the floor in the first quarter, the Lady Vols were 13 of 61 the rest of the game.
Carlie Needles scored 15 points for Florida before leaving with a cramp in her leg in the fourth quarter. January Miller added 11 points as Florida shot 60 percent in the second half to win for the 13th time in its last 14 games.
After Florida scored the game's first five points, Tennessee took command with a 16-2 run. That set the tone for a game of runs.
The Lady Vols built an early 11-point lead as Florida turned the ball over nine times during a first quarter that featured five steals from each team.
Florida got back into the game when Tennessee cooled off. The Lady Vols shot 2 of 17 in the second quarter as Florida tied the game at 29-29 before Tennessee closed the half on a 6-0 run.
Tennessee led by as many as nine early in the third quarter before Florida rallied. A three-pointer by Brooke Copeland with 1:38 left in the third gave Florida its first lead since that 5-0 advantage. The game was tied 53-53 at the end of the third quarter and continued going back and forth early in the fourth before Florida went on a 7-0 run to pull ahead for good.
Ronni Williams put Florida ahead 59-58 with 7:49 left, and Christinaki added a driving layup before Needles' three-pointer capped the spurt with seven minutes remaining.
NO. 10 KENTUCKY 73, ALABAMA 48
LEXINGTON, Ky. -- Evelyn Akhator scored a career-high 21 points and No. 10 Kentucky beat Alabama.
Coming off a 66-61 loss to Auburn to open SEC play Sunday, the Wildcats (12-1, 1-1) bounced back to remain undefeated at home at 9-0.
Akhator did most of her scoring in the second half with 13 points. Alexis Jennings added 12 points, and Janee Thompson, Makayla Epps and Maci Morris each had 10 points.
Morris didn't score in the first half, but connected on two three-pointers and had 10 points to fuel Kentucky's offense in the third quarter.
Karyla Middlebrook led Alabama (12-3, 1-1) with 12 points, and Hannah Cook added 10 points.
The Wildcats led 29-19 at halftime despite making just seven baskets. They hit eight of their first 11 shots in the third quarter to pull away.
NO. 20 MISSOURI 54, GEORGIA 48
ATHENS, Ga. -- Jordan Frericks had 11 points and a key block with seven seconds left and No. 20 Missouri made four free throws in the final four seconds to defeat Georgia.
Cierra Porter had 11 points, including three of the late free throws, as the Tigers (14-1, 1-1 SEC) bounced back from their first loss of the season with a strong defensive effort.
Fredricks blocked Tiaria Griffin's three-point attempt with seven seconds left to protect a 50-48 lead. Porter and Sophie Cunningham each made 1 of 2 free throws with four seconds left as the Bulldogs were hit with a technical. On the ensuing possession a second late Porter made two free throws.
Griffin had 14 points and Shacobia Barbee had 10 and 14 rebounds for Georgia (12-3, 0-2), which shot just 26 percent for the game. After taking a 43-38 lead early in the fourth quarter, the Bulldogs closed by going 2 of 13.
NO. 2 SOUTH CAROLINA 71,
VANDERBILT 61
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Tiffany Mitchell scored a season-high 22 points and second-ranked South Carolina preserved its undefeated start by holding off Vanderbilt.
The Gamecocks (14-0, 2-0 SEC) won their seventh consecutive against Vanderbilt, keeping them just one of three undefeated Division I women’s teams in the nation along with topranked Connecticut and No. 4 Texas. A’ja Wilson, the Gamecocks’ leading scorer and fourth in the SEC averaging 17.2 points per game, had a season-low four points. Tina Roy added 13 points, Alaina Coates had 11 points and Khadijah Sessions added 10 points.
NO. 7 MISSISSIPPI STATE 60, AUBURN 45
STARKVILLE, Miss. — Victoria Vivians had 23 points and 10 rebounds and Mississippi State used a stellar defensive performance to beat Auburn.
Mississippi State (15-1, 2-0 SEC) limited Auburn (11-4, 1-1) to 22.2 percent shooting from the field during a game-changing second quarter. The Bulldogs held Auburn without a field goal over the first 8:39 of the quarter and allowed only five points.
Tra’Cee Tanner had 15 points for Auburn.
Sports on 01/08/2016