Georgia women advance to face No. 1 USC in SEC tournament

GREENVILLE, S.C. (AP) - Jenna Staiti scored 16 of her 20 points in the second half and secured a double-double as Georgia beat Alabama 68-61 in the second round of the Southeastern Conference tournament on Thursday.

Staiti had a big third quarter, scoring six of her 10 points and grabbing seven of her 12 second-half rebounds as Georgia build a 53-46 lead. She finished with 14 rebounds for her sixth double-double of the season, and scored at least 20 for the sixth straight game.

Georgia (17-13) will face top-seeded South Carolina in the first quarterfinal game on Friday. The No. 9 seed Lady Bulldogs lost to the Gamecocks, the top team in the AP Top 25 poll, 88-53 in late January.

Gabby Connally added 16 points for Georgia. Freshman Chloe Chapman and Jordan Isaacs combined for 13 points in the first half as Georgia led 33-30.

ARKANSAS 90

AUBURN 68

GREENVILLE, S.C. (AP) - Alexis Tolefree scored 11 of her 30 points in Arkansas' 26-10 second quarter, and the 25th ranked Razorbacks beat Auburn 90-68 on Thursday in the second round of the Southeastern Conference tournament.

Tolefree had 20 points in the first half, making four 3-pointers, as Arkansas led 37-24. She finished 7 of 15 from 3-point range and Chelsea Dungee was 5 of 8 as Arkansas knocked down 17 of 42.

Fifth-seeded Arkansas (23-7) will face 15th-ranked and No. 4 seed Texas A&M on Friday. The Razorbacks lost the first meeting this season 84-77 on Jan. 2.

Dungee, who scored 31 in Arkansas' tournament opener last year, finished with 23 points. Arkansas' offense continued to dominate, averaging 84.4 points per game for the third-best mark in the nation behind Oregon and DePaul.

ACC TOURNAMENT

CLEMSON 71

MIAMI 56

GREENSBORO, N.C. (AP) - Kobi Thornton scored a career-high 27points on 12-of-16 shooting and Clemson used a 16-4 run to pull away for good and beat Miami 71-56 on Wednesday at the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament.

Amari Robinson added 14 points for No. 14 seed Clemson (8-22), which snapped an 11-game skid. The Tigers playED sixth-seeded Boston College in the second round Thursday, but results were not available at press time.

Thornton scored seven points during the decisive run that gave Clemson a 55-44 lead when Robinson made a short jumper at the end of the third quarter. Miami (15-15) trailed by double figures the rest of the way.

WAKE FOREST 58

VIRGINIA TECH 55

GREENSBORO, N.C. (AP) - Ivana Raca had 16 points and six rebounds, Gina Conti scored four of her 11 points in the final minute and Wake Forest beat Virginia Tech 58-55 on Thursday in the second round of the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament.

Wake Forest (16-15) has won two ACC tournament games for just the third time in program history. The No. 13 seed will face 22nd-ranked Florida State on Friday after dropping both regular-season matchups with the No. 4 seed Seminoles.

Conti curled off a high screen and made a contested shot at the edge of the key to extend Wake Forest's lead to 56-51 with 53.7 seconds left. Virginia Tech later pulled to 56-55 after a quick inbound play, but Conti answered with two free throws at 8.9 for a three-point lead.

Virginia Tech had two good looks at the other end but Taja Cole's layup attempt rolled off and Aisha Sheppard's corner 3-pointer was short at the buzzer.

SYRACUSE 67

VIRGINIA 50

GREENSBORO, N.C. (AP) - Amaya Finklea-Guity led a balanced attack with 15 points and eighth-seeded Syracuse pulled away from ninth-seeded Virginia in the fourth quarter for a 67-50 win on Thursday in the second round of the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament.

Gabrielle Cooper and Emily Engstler added 13 points apiece, Kiara Lewis had 11 and Maeva Djaldi-Tabdi 10 off the bench for the Orange (16-15), who led 53-47 after three quarters.

Syracuse faces top-seeded and fourth-ranked Louisville in the second quarterfinal on Friday.

Djaldi-Tabdi opened the fourth with a pair of free throws and Digna Strautmane hit a 3-pointer to make it 58-47, the first double-figure lead of the game.

Virginia missed its final 15 shots and finished with 26 turnovers.