Mitchell takes over for South Carolina

COLUMBIA, S.C. -- Tiffany Mitchell handled second-ranked South Carolina's offense as the Gamecocks routed No. 20 Missouri.

Mitchell scored 19 points and keyed a run in the third quarter when Missouri tried to rally in the Gamecocks 83-58 victory Sunday.

The two-time SEC Player of the Year scored seven consecutive points in the third period after Missouri cut the Gamecocks' lead to 10. The Tigers (14-2, 1-2 SEC) barely got a clean look at the basket in the first half as USC (15-0, 3-0) played its best defense of the season, but USC began to crack in the third as Missouri's offense slipped into rhythm.

Mitchell, as she did against Vanderbilt in south Carolina's last game, took over. Two fast-break layups around the Gamecocks' first three-pointer of the game restored the lead and she finished with a game-high 19 points.

"Coach (Dawn) Staley gives me a look to kind of take over sometimes," Mitchell said. "I just try to read and get in the flow of the game."

Missouri star freshman Sophie Cunningham entered the game ninth in the SEC in scoring but South Carolina's aggressive defense and two early fouls held her to nine points on 4-of-13 shooting.

"We felt like after playing Tennessee and seeing that kind of pressure, we felt like we could really learn and grown from it," Missouri coach Robin Pingeton said. "We dug ourselves a pretty big hole in that first half."

The Gamecocks placed sophomore A'ja Wilson in the paint and told her to concentrate on defense rather than scoring, and Wilson responded with six blocks, tying a career-high. She and Alaina Coates had double-doubles, Wilson scoring 11 with 11 rebounds while Coates had 13 and 12.

"I hope the evolution of A'ja's defense is much like Alaina [Coates]' offense," Staley said about Wilson wanting to win the SEC Defensive Player of the Year. "It's a goal of hers. The goal will be dangled out there and it could be hers for the taking."

No. 10 KENTUCKY 64, GEORGIA 53

ATHENS, Ga. -- Makayla Epps scored 13 points, Alexis Jennings had with 12 points and 12 rebounds, and Kentucky beat Georgia.

The Wildcats (13-1, 2-1 SEC) were never really threatened despite shooting a season-low 37.3 percent from the field. Evelyn Akhator finished with 10 points and 10 rebounds, and Janee Thompson added 10 points for Kentucky.

Georgia (12-4, 0-3 SEC) has dropped three consecutive, all against Top 25 opponents.

The Lady Bulldogs had no one score at least 10 points. Shacobia Barbee and Halle Washington each finished with eight.

No. 12 TENNESSEE 79, AUBURN 52

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- Diamond DeShields had 25 points, seven assists and six rebounds as Tennessee regained its shooting touch in a blowout of Auburn.

Tennessee (11-4, 2-1 SEC) followed up its worst shooting performance of the season with its best of the year. After shooting 29.3 percent (24 of 82) in a 74-66 home loss to Florida, the Lady Volunteers shot 59.6 percent (34 of 57) on Sunday.

Tra'Cee Tanner had 12 points and 10 rebounds for Auburn (11-5, 1-2). Brandy Montgomery had 11 points and Janiah McKay added 10.

No. 13 TEXAS A&M 53, LSU 35

BATON ROUGE -- Courtney Walker scored 21 points and Texas A&M took control in the second half to defeat LSU.

The Aggies (12-4, 2-1 SEC) trailed 8-4 after one quarter and 19-15 at the half but blitzed the Tigers (7-9, 1-2) in the third quarter.

Walker started things with a layup, two more baskets and a three-point play during a 13-0 run for a 28-20 lead at 4:29. She had 13 points in the quarter, which ended with A&M on top 38-26.

Walker capped a 12-4 run to start the fourth quarter that put the Aggies up 50-30.

Alexis Hyder led LSU with 14 points.

Sports on 01/11/2016

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