Parker's 30 points power No. 3 Tennessee past Georgia, 72-63

ATHENS -- Candace Parker scored 30 points in her final regular-season game and No. 3 Tennessee beat No. 22 Georgia 72-63 on Sunday night.

Parker had a scoring high for a Southeastern Conference game this season and finished four points below her career high. She scored 13 of the Lady Vols' first 15 points in the second half.

Shannon Bobbitt added 15 points for Tennessee (27-2 overall, 13-1 SEC), which closed the regular season with five straight wins to finish second in the conference. The Lady Vols have seven straight wins over Georgia, including a two-game sweep this season.

Georgia (21-8, 8-6) fell to fifth in the SEC, forcing the Lady Bulldogs to play a first-round game against Alabama on Thursday night in the SEC tournament in Nashville. Georgia would have earned a first-round bye in the conference tournament by beating Tennessee.

Christy Marshall led Georgia with 15 points. Tasha Humphrey had 13 and Megan Darrah added 10.

After Alberta Auguste opened the second half with an inside basket, Parker took over by scoring 13 straight Tennessee points.

Parker had 25 of Tennessee's first 41 points before Bobbitt's 3-pointer ended Parker's run of monopolizing the Lady Vols' points.

Georgia led 29-26 at halftime and remained close through the first 10 minutes of the second half, when there were four ties. Bobbitt's 3-pointer sparked a 15-5 run that gave Tennessee a 56-44 lead.

Tennessee's biggest lead was 13 points at 60-47, but Georgia answered with a 12-4 run, capped by Humphrey's 3-pointer with 3:29 left, to cut the lead to 64-59.