DULUTH, Ga. (AP) — Georgia held Kentucky scoreless for the first 8 minutes and rolled to a 72-40 victory over the Wildcats Friday in the SEC tournament.
Angela Robinson scored 15 points and Tasha Humphrey added 14 for Georgia. Each had 8 rebounds as No. 10 Georgia won most of the inside battles against Kentucky’s Jennifer Humphrey and Sarah Elliott, who combined for four points.
Georgia (25-5) advanced to the semifinals of the Southeastern Conference tournament on Saturday against the winner of Friday night’s Vanderbilt-Florida game.
Georgia is playing for its first SEC tournament championship since 2001 and its fifth overall with coach Andy Landers.
Ashley Houts had 12 points and Janese Hardrick added 10 for the Lady Bulldogs.
A day after Jennifer Humphrey scored 21 points in Kentucky’s 72-57 first-round victory over Arkansas, the Wilcats couldn’t recover from their slow start against Georgia.
Kentucky shot 20 percent from the field, a record low for the SEC tournament. The old mark was 22.2 percent shooting by Alabama against Mississippi in 1990.
The Wildcats’ 12 field goals also was a new low. The previous record low was 14, set three times.
Kentucky missed its first 14 shots from the field and trailed 12-0 when Elliott finally scored on a follow shot with 12 minutes left in the first half. The Wildcats shot only 16.1 percent from the field for the half, making only 5 of 31 attempts.
Carly Ormerod led Kentucky (18-13) with 14 points but fouled out with 5:18 left to play. No other Kentucky player scored in double figures and Jennifer Humphrey did not score for only the second time this season. Elliott, averaging 13.9 points per game, scored only four points.
Georgia led 38-18 at halftime, leaving Kentucky on pace to challenge the SEC tournament record for fewest points in a game – 39 by Auburn in a 2002 loss to Vanderbilt. Kentucky reached 40 points on two free throws by Jenny Pfeiffer with 2:04 left.
Georgia stretched its lead to 27 points at 47-20 early in the second half. Kentucky came no closer than 19 points, at 49-30, the rest of the way.
