The Georgia Lady Bulldogs shot a blistering 63.3 percent from the field, including 77.8 percent from 3-point range, to beat the UK women’s basketball team 82-64 in the first round of the Southeastern Conference tournament Thursday in North Little Rock, Ark.
Senior center Eleia Roddy led the Cats (15-15, 5-9 SEC) with 20 points and five rebounds, but it wasn’t enough to overcome sophomore guard Ashley Houts of Georgia (18-12, 7-7 SEC), who scored a game-high 22 points. The first time Georgia and UK met this season, Houts netted 26 points in 40 minutes of play on UK’s Senior Night, a 61-57 Georgia win on Feb. 26.
Junior guard Amani Franklin registered 14 points, hitting four 3-pointers. Franklin also grabbed a team-high nine boards in the loss.
Kentucky used a 9-0 run to close the first half, carrying a 30-29 lead into halftime, but the Cats couldn’t overcome Georgia’s staggering 73.1 percent performance from the field in the second half. Kentucky, entering the game as the No. 10 seed in the SEC tournament, shot just 33.9 percent from the field for the game.
Georgia, the seventh seed, will meet second-seeded Vanderbilt in the quarterfinals on Friday.
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