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Kentucky bumps off Georgia, 57-50

Top-seeded LSU has easy time with Ole Miss

Sarah Elliott's 16 points helped propel fourth-seeded Kentucky to an upset of No. 23 Georgia 57-50 on Friday night in the SEC tournament at Nashville.

Kentucky (15-14) advanced to the semifinals for the first time since 2006, avenging a loss to Georgia in the quarterfinals last year. The Wildcats will play top-seeded LSU today.

Fifth-seeded Georgia (22-9) will miss the semifinals for the first time since 2003.

After trailing by 10 twice during the first half, Georgia tied the game at 39 on two free throws by former Williams Blount star Angela Puleo with 12:42 left.

A minute later, Amani Franklin gave Kentucky a 41-39 lead with a layup, and the Wildcats stayed in control for the rest of the game.

Ashley Houts led a balanced Georgia offense with 10 points.

The Lady Bulldogs' leading scorer, Tasha Humphrey, was mostly ineffective as she committed four fouls. Humphrey finished with only six points, even though she entered the game averaging 17.1.

Puleo scored seven points for Georgia.

LSU 80, Ole Miss 36: Quianna Chaney scored 17 points and the No. 7 Lady Tigers (26-4) beat the Lady Rebels (13-16) to reach the SEC semifinals for the seventh consecutive year.

Ole Miss is 0-4 against the tournament's No. 1 seed and set a tournament record with the fewest points in a game. Auburn was held to 39 in 2002.

Sylvia Fowles had 10 points and 10 rebounds for LSU.

Carla Bartee led Ole Miss with nine points.

"Hats off to LSU," Ole Miss coach Renee Ladner said. "They were much better. They were well-prepared, and they looked like a championship team. And we were just not at our best."

Vanderbilt 49, Auburn 44: Christina Wirth scored her only points of the game with 1:45 left to break a tie at 41, and No. 21 Vanderbilt advanced to the SEC semifinals for the eighth time in nine years by holding off Auburn.

The defending tournament champion will play No. 3 Tennessee. The Commodores (23-7) have won four straight since losing to then-No. 1 Tennessee on Feb. 17. They are seeking their fourth tourney title in seven years, which also would be their third in as many tournaments at the Sommet Center one mile from their home gym.

Sixth-seeded Auburn (20-11) came in hoping to add another postseason win to burnish its bid for an NCAA tournament berth. The Tigers were in the quarterfinals for the third time under coach Nell Fortner, but they haven't reached the semifinals since 1997, when they won the title in Chattanooga.

DeWanna Bonner, the SEC's second-best scorer, hit two free throws with 2 minutes remaining to force the only tie of a game Vanderbilt led throughout and by as many as 12. Wirth, Vandy's leading scorer who had missed her first eight shots, hit a jumper that put the Commodores back up to stay.

Merideth Marsh and Jessica Mooney led Vandy with 10 points apiece.

Virginia 52, Georgia Tech 43: Monica Wright scored 17 points and the No. 25 Cavaliers (23-8) rallied to the Yellow Jackets (22-9) in the quarterfinals of the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament in Greensboro, N.C.

North Carolina 97, Clemson 77: Erlana Larkins scored 25 points and LaToya Pringle 16 to help the second-ranked Tar Heels (28-2) beat the Tigers (12-19) in the ACC tournament. D'Lesha Lloyd had 20 points and 10 rebounds for Clemson.

Maryland 93, Boston College 81: Laura Harper scored 15 of her 25 points after halftime, Crystal Langhorne had 24 points as the No. 5 Terrapins (30-2) beat the Eagles (20-11) and advanced to the ACC semifinals for the fifth consecutive year.

Duke 81, Florida State 67: Abby Waner scored all 14 of her points during a decisive run against the Seminoles (17-13) that carried the No. 12 Blue Devils (22-8) into the ACC semifinals.

Illinois 64, Ohio State 58: Rebecca Harris scored 22 points, and the Illini (18-13) knocked off the top seed and 22nd-ranked Buckeyes at Indianapolis to move into the semifinals of the Big Ten tournament. Marscilla Packer scored 15 of her 19 points in the second half for Ohio State (22-8), which lost its tournament opener for the first time in school history.

Notebook: Connecticut's Maya Moore was honored as the Big East's player of the year and freshman of the year, becoming the first freshman in the history of the conference to win the player-of-the-year award.

© 2008, The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.

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