Auburn 71, Ole Miss 65

Game One was Auburn vs. Ole Miss. Just prior to the game, there was a short (30 seconds?) presentation to award the team with the regular season championship trophy. Once play got underway, Auburn jumped out to a 5-0 lead and for a while, looked as though they might cruise to a win. However, Auburn got a little sloppy and the Rebels refused to give up, which made the game a lot closer than the Tigers probably would have liked.
In the end, this game came down to free throw shooting. Auburn did it better and did it a lot more often and that made the difference. Each team hit 27 field goals this game, but the Tigers shot 45 % for the game, while Ole Miss managed 41%. Assists, turnovers, blocked shots and rebounds were all just about even. But Auburn took 25 free throws and hit 14 of them (only 56%, but good enough tonight) but the Rebels took only 12 free throws and hit only 6. Auburn’s reward will be to meet the University of Tennessee Lady Vols in Game One of the semi-finals tomorrow.

Vanderbilt 69, Georgia 61

Ask Melanie Balcomb, Vanderbilt’s coach, how much she loves the 3-point shot. Vandy put up 26 3-point shots this afternoon, hitting 9 of them and making the difference in their game against the Georgia Bulldogs. Georgia out-rebounded the Commodores, had more blocked shots and an equal number of assists. They also hit the same  total number of shots.  However, the Vanderbilt team had 7 steals to Georgia’s one and only 3 turnovers for the entire game. They also scored 11 points off of Georgia turnovers--only 12 in the game, but enough to make the difference today.  Vanderbilt also had a very steady, consistent level of play throughout the game while Georgia played it’s all too common Jekyll-and-Hyde brand of basketball: brilliant one possession and dismal the next. The game was actually closer than the final score reflects. With only 1:17 to play, an Angela Robinson layup put the score at Georgia 61, Vandy 62. However, a Merideth Marsh 3-pointer jacked it back up to 65-61 and gave the Vanderbilt team enough room to secure the win.

Tennessee  71, Florida 67

The higher seeded Florida Gators got off to a dismal start in this game. Shooting only 29% in the first half, they had fallen behind by 17 points at the half and looked in danger of being blown out. However, the Gators still had plenty of fight left in them and outscored the Lady Vols by 13 points in the second half, though it was still not enough to overcome the original deficit. It did make the game more exciting, though, and meant that the Tennessee team could not let up for a second. The Lady Vols did not. Led by a 25-point performance from Angie Bjorkland (who had been scoreless against Alabama) and supported by 18 additional points from Shekinna Stricklen, the Tennessee team fended off the Gators by out-rebounding them 35-26. The Lady Vols had 8 rebounds apiece from Glory Johnson and Kelly Cain, in a game that was incredibly physical and threatened to evolve into a brawl, at times. Tennessee helped Florida stay in the game by turning the ball over 23 times, but Florida still did not have quite enough to overcome the Lady Vols. Florida coach Amanda Butler was hoping for a tournament win for her birthday present today, but she will have to settle for a short wait to find out what her team’s seeding will be in the upcoming NCAA Tournament, instead.

LSU 63, Mississippi State 58

The Louisiana State University Tigers had lost 2 games to MSU this season, but managed to make the third time the charm, despite losing starting guard Latear Eason about midway through the first half. Eason was trying to draw a charge under the MSU basket when she fell and was inadvertently stepped on by Armelie Lumanu. Eason was immobilized by emergency personnel and taken to a local hospital, but her teammates stepped up in her absence and took care of business. The Tigers had only a 6 point lead at the half, despite out-shooting the Bulldogs 42% to 26%. In the second half, the Tigers looked to have a manageable lead, but the Bulldogs kept coming back. Though LSU hit 51% from the floor (to the Bulldogs’ 27%, MSU had a considerable advantage from the free throw line, hitting 22 of 28 attempts. Still, it was not enough to overcome the Tigers’ team effort, led by Allison Hightower’s 23 points and 7 rebounds apiece from Katherine Graham and Kristen Morris. The Bulldogs may have been adversely affected by a second-half brouhaha that resulted in a technical foul call against head coach Sharon Fanning and cost her team a couple of points on the ensuing free throws (of which LSU had only 13, hitting 9) though it appeared that her rather fiery outburst actually inspired her team to play even harder. No word was available, immediately following the game, as to the condition of Eason.