In what proved to be the closest game of the day, Ole Miss did their best to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory, but in the end, were able to send the host team out of the tournament in the first game.  Ole Miss junior Bianca Thomas finished with a game high 31 points (19 in the first half) despite missing 4 key free throws down the stretch.  Thomas was devastating from beyond the arc, connecting on 6 of 10 treys.  Arkansas won the battle of the boards 40-26, tallied 13 assists to Ole Miss’ 9, but only converted 6 of 12 free throws, whereas Ole Miss nailed 15 of 21 free throws. Ole Miss forced the Lady Razorbacks into committing 19 turnovers, which the Rebels converted into 22 points.

Game 2: Georgia 82, Kentucky 64

The big question heading into this matchup was which Georgia team would show up -- the one which lost five straight late in the regular season, or the one who pulled off impressive wins over Auburn and Florida?  With Kentucky clinging to a one point lead at the half, no one was still quite sure which team Georgia was going to be today, including coach Andy Landers, who said they “played the first 5 minutes of the second half like Moe, Larry and Curly.”  So Landers sat down on the bench, and allowed the team to figure out for themselves whether they were going to pull out of the tailspin.  To their credit, they buckled down and won this one going away.  Georgia hit a solid 52.2% of their shots in the first half, but scorched the nets for a blazing 73.1% in the second half.  Looking at the stats, this one is a head-scratcher -- Kentucky only had 2 less assists than Georgia, committed 2 less turnovers, were on par from the free throw line, but only hit 33.9% of their shots from the field.  Georgia’s bench came on strong, accounting for 38 points.

Game 3: Tennessee 68, Alabama 49

How many more times can UT play a mediocre first half, get a royal chewing at halftime, and then come out and play like the Lady Vols are supposed to play? Against cellar-dwelling Alabama, UT was able to play a solid second half and get away with a fairly impressive win, but such a lackluster performance won’t cut it against Auburn or even LSU. Not that it was all a lack of effort on UT’s part in the first half. Coach Wendell Hudson has the Crimson Tide playing some solid basketball, and his team held a one point lead at the half, despite shooting only 39.3% from the field, mainly because they were far more accurate from 3-point land, hitting 4 of 7 treys in the first half. But give credit where credit is due: UT came out like a team possessed after the break, holding the Tide to an abysmal 18 points in the second half, outrebounding them 44 to 29, and tallied a monstrous 11 blocks for the game. In typical UT fashion, the Lady Vols stepped up the defensive intensity, and yet sent Alabama to the line only twice in the final 20 minutes. Anyone who knows a sheet from Shinola is not surprised by that statistic. I’m just sayin’…

Game 4:Mississippi State 49, South Carolina 39

As great as South Carolina played in the first 11 minutes of this game, leading Mississippi State by an astonishing score of 18-0, the Lady Bulldogs battled back, cutting the Gamecocks’ lead to one. After missing their first 17 shots from the field, Mississippi State rallied furiously, and South Carolina clung to a 26-22 halftime lead. From that point forward, the wheels seemed to fall off for South Carolina. MSU took their first lead of the game, 29-28, at the 17:26 mark in the second half. State stretched the lead to 5 as the fouls piled up against SC at an alarming rate. At one point early in the second half, the foul tally stood at South Carolina 9, Mississippi State 2. Despite the uphill battle, the Gamecocks began to chip away at the Lady Bulldogs’ lead, and even went up by 2, 38-36, on a beautiful 3-pointer by Miranda Tate. State regained the lead at 40-38, and a few moments later at the 3:03 mark, Tate was involved in a scrum, with her knee bending awkwardly under her as she came down hard under the bottom of the pile. She had to be carried off the court and taken to the locker room, and the extent of her injury is unknown at this time. From that point forward, MSU outscored the Gamecocks 9-1, winning 49-39 going away.