Georgia beats Arkansas 79-74 in SEC Tournament to spoil Izzy Higginbottom's 38-point performance

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GREENVILLE, S.C. (AP) — Asia Avinger scored 13 of her 19 points in the second half, De’Mauri Flournoy added 15 points and Georgia closed on an 11-2 run to beat Arkansas 79-74 on Wednesday in the opening round of the SEC Tournament.

Georgia (13-18) will play No. 5 seed and 10th-ranked Oklahoma on Thursday. The Lady Bulldogs lost the only regular-season matchup with the then-No. 15 Sooners 86-55 on Jan. 26.

Izzy Higginbottom had Arkansas in control through three quarters as she reached 29 points after a three-point play with 4:52 left in the frame for a 57-46 lead. But Georgia opened the fourth on an 8-3 run to get within 63-62 on Roxane Makolo’s fast-break layup.

Trinity Turner sank a floater in the lane with 2:01 left in the fourth to give Georgia its first lead, 74-72, since it was 32-30 in the second quarter.

After Arkansas wasn't close on a 3-point shot at the shot-clock buzzer, Avinger made a jumper from the free-throw line with 12.9 seconds left for a 76-72 lead. Turner stole the inbounds pass and Flournoy made 1 of 2 free throws for a five-point lead to seal it.

Turner finished with 11 points and Mia Woolfolk scored all 10 of her points in the second half for Georgia.

Higginbottom scored nine points in the fourth quarter, despite being the focus of the defense, to finish with 38 for Arkansas (10-22).

Higginbottom scored 24 of Arkansas’ 41 first-half points to help build a four-point lead. She was 10 of 15 from the field, while her teammates combined to go 5 of 20. It was her 23rd time this season reaching 20 points.

Higginbottom converted a layup in traffic with 3:16 left in the second quarter to become the program’s all-time leading scorer in a single season and she finished with 780.

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