Kentucky Kentucky/LSU LSU Women's College Basketball recap on ESPN

Mississippi 75, S. Carolina 68
The Lady Rebels (17-11) hit 6 of 10 3-pointers in the first half and finished the game 22 of 30 at the free-throw line in upsetting South Carolina. The Lady Gamecocks outshot and outrebounded Ole Miss but couldn't overcome 20 turnovers that the Lady Rebels turned into 18 points.

Arkansas 94, Miss. St. 76
Celia Anderson scored a career-high 22 points and grabbed 12 rebounds as Arkansas (18-11) advanced. She led a bench that outscored Mississippi State's reserves 36-10.

The Lady Razorbacks now are 15-0 when they score at least 71 points, and they shot so well and so often that 10th-seeded Mississippi State (15-13) didn't have a chance despite a tournament-record 44 points from LaToya Thomas. The previous mark had been 40 by Tennessee's Shelia Collins in 1985.

Dana Cherry finished with 16 points for Arkansas. India Lewis added 12, Wendi Willits had 11 and Christon 10.

Alabama 59, Auburn 55
The eighth-seeded Crimson Tide (18-1) beat Auburn (17-12) for the third time this season thanks to Lanisha Cartwell who scored 15 points and grabbed 13 rebounds. Alabama now has won its opening round game in eight of the last nine tournaments.

But Alabama had to turn back a late Auburn rally led by Shana Askew who had a game-high 22 points and 13 rebounds. The Crimson Tide went 10-of-10 at the free throw line in the final 3:12 to offset not hitting a field goal in the last 7:30.

Marie Ferdinand scored 21 points as LSU (No. 17 ESPN/USA Today; No. 16 Associated Press) beat Kentucky 72-57 Thursday night for its first victory in the Southeastern Conference tournament since 1996.

How bad had it been? The Tigers (19-9) reached the NCAA tournament's final eight last season and the regional semifinals the season before with no success in the SEC tournament. In seven of the past eight years, including the previous five, the Tigers played one game and went home.

"You can't explain why," LSU coach Sue Gunter said. "We've been unseeded and got beat, seeded two, got beat in the first round. It's one of those things seems to happen. It's kind of fun (winning). These seniors had never won a game in the conference tournament. Finally, they broke that streak."

The LSU seniors had been 66-28 the previous three years.

Ferdinand said she and her teammates were excited about the victory and looking for an extended run.

"It's one of our goals coming in this year -- not just be satisfied with getting past this second round, but take it all the way. I feel we have the team," Ferdinand said.

Fifth-seeded LSU, which will play Vanderbilt on Friday night in the second round, faced an easy opponent in 12th-seeded Kentucky (6-21).

The Wildcats started three freshmen and finished their season with defeats in eight of their last nine games.

Kentucky challenged LSU in the opening minutes and led 11-8 with 13:49 to go on a bucket by Shambrica Jones.

Ferdinand, who missed her first four shots, helped jump-start an 18-4 run with seven consecutive points. KeKe Tardy's basket with 4:59 to gave the Tigers a 26-15 advantage.

LSU led 34-23 at halftime and by as much as 19 in the second half.

The teams combined for 43 turnovers, but LSU made up for its mistakes with excellent shooting. The Tigers shot 13-for-20 in the second half and shot 58 percent (29-for-50) from the floor compared to 41 for Kentucky.

April Brown and Roneeka Hodges each added 12 points for LSU. Tardy finished with 10.

Kentucky coach Bernadette Mattox said she was pleased the way her young team battled LSU.

"I think we hurt ourselves a couple times coming down and taking rushed shots," Mattox said.

LaTonya McDole led Kentucky with 18 points. Alvine Mendeng had 13.

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