GREENVILLE, S.C. (AP) — Diamond Battles scored 14 of her 18 points in the second quarter, Alisha Lewis had a career-high 12 assists with eight points and five steals and No. 7 seed Georgia eased past 10th-seeded Auburn 63-47 on Thursday in the SEC Tournament.
Georgia (21-10) moves to the quarterfinals on Friday to face fourth-ranked LSU, which won the only regular-season meeting when Angel Reese had 23 points and 14 rebounds in an 82-77 overtime victory on Feb. 2. The Bulldogs have won eight of their last 10 games with the only losses coming at top-five teams LSU and South Carolina.
Battles missed her first four shots of the game before scoring 14 points in the second quarter to help Georgia take a 38-27 lead. Lewis set her career high in the first half with nine assists.
Georgia went 1 for 13 from the field in the third quarter with seven turnovers, but made 7 of 8 free throws to lead 47-35 entering the fourth. Auburn also struggled from the field in the third quarter, going scoreless in the final four minutes.
Javyn Nicholson made Georgia’s second field goal of the second half — in 16 attempts — with 7:27 left in the fourth quarter to extend the lead to 50-39.
Brittney Smith added 10 points and seven rebounds for Georgia. Katie Abrahamson-Henderson became the first coach in program history to win in a first appearance at the SEC Tournament.
Aicha Coulibaly scored 13 points and Sydney Shaw added 12 for Auburn (15-14). The Tigers shot just 32% with 18 turnovers.
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