Tennessee Rallies to Beat Vanderbilt

Kara Lawson scored 26 points and freshman reserve Shanna Zolman added 20 as No. 4-ranked Tennessee battled back from a 16-point deficit to defeat No. 17 Vanderbilt, 81-67, Sunday night at Nashville.

The Lady Vols (18-3 overall, 7-0 Southeastern Conference) extended their winning streak to nine and improved to 39-6 in the series against their state rival.

Vanderbilt (13-7, 3-4), which beat Tennessee at Nashville last season, led, 25-9, midway through the first half.

No. 5 Louisiana State 68, No. 18 Georgia 64 -- Temeka Johnson made a field goal and two free throws in the final 31 seconds at Baton Rouge, La., to give the Tigers (18-1, 6-1 SEC) the victory over the Bulldogs (14-4, 5-1).

No. 7 North Carolina 76, Georgia Tech 64 -- The Tar Heels (19-2, 8-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) made six consecutive free throws in the final 40 seconds at Chapel Hill, N.C. They limited the Yellow Jackets (14-7, 3-6) to one field goal during an 8:17 span midway through the second half and took a 66-49 lead on two free throws by Coretta Brown.

No. 10 Purdue 67, No. 23 Ohio State 62 -- The Boilermakers (18-3, 7-2 Big Ten) moved into sole possession of second place in the conference and improved to 10-0 at West Lafayette, Ind. Caity Matter of the Buckeyes (15-5, 6-3), the top three-point shooter in the conference, missed two attempts on the Buckeyes’ final possession.

No. 11 Texas 76, Texas A&M; 50 -- Even with most of their starters on the bench midway through the second half, the Longhorns (14-5, 7-1 Big 12) extended their home winning streak to 11. The Aggies (8-10, 1-6) lost for the fifth time in a row.

No. 12 Arkansas 59, Alabama 58 -- India Lewis made a three-point shot with one second left at Tuscaloosa, Ala., to lift the Razorbacks (17-5, 4-3 SEC). The Crimson Tide (17-5, 4-3) took a 58-56 lead when Beth Vice made a free throw after being fouled by Lewis with 12 seconds left. Arkansas then called a timeout, and Lewis made the winning shot.

No. 13 Mississippi State 83, Florida 54 -- The Bulldogs (16-4, 5-2 SEC) blew the game open with a 40-10 run in the second half at Gainesville, Fla. It was the school-record eighth consecutive loss for the Gators (8-12, 0-7).

No. 14 Penn State 69, Indiana 55 -- Kelly Mazzante scored 33 points on her 21st birthday to lead the Nittany Lions (18-5, 8-1 Big Ten) at State College, Pa. The Hoosiers are 9-10 and 2-7.

No. 15 Minnesota 67, Northwestern 56 -- The Gophers (16-3, 5-3 Big Ten) ended their two-game losing streak and kept their home record perfect through eight games. The Wildcats (6-15, 1-9) lost for the ninth consecutive time.

No. 16 South Carolina 49, Kentucky 46 -- Kelly Morrone made two free throws with 14.6 seconds left for South Carolina (16-4, 4-3 SEC) at Lexington, Ky. The Wildcats (9-9, 2-4) had a chance to send the game into overtime, but SeSe Helm missed a three-point shot at the buzzer.