No. 9 Lady Dogs hold off Auburn

ATLANTA -- Jasmine Hassell scored 15 points and No. 9 Georgia overcame its second-half struggles to edge Auburn 61-58 on Thursday night, giving the Tigers their seventh-straight loss.

The Lady Bulldogs, coming off a win at No. 8 Kentucky on Sunday, led 34-22 at halftime. Georgia made only 2 of 16 shots from the field in the first 10 minutes of the second half.

Auburn made only 3 of 15 free throws, including each of its five attempts in the final 3 minutes.

Georgia (20-3, 8-2 Southeastern Conference) reached 20 wins for the 28th time in 34 seasons with coach Andy Landers.

Auburn (13-10, 2-8) pulled even at 53-53 but couldn't take the lead.

Shacobia Barbee had 14 points and Jasmine James added 13 for Georgia, which has a four-game winning streak.

Hasina Muhammad led Auburn with 20 points, including a 3-pointer with 3.1 seconds remaining to cut Georgia's lead to 60-58. Blance Alverson, who had three 3-pointers, had 16 points. Peyton Davis had 10.

The Tigers lost in coach Terri Williams-Flourney's return to Athens. Williams-Flourney, in her first season at Auburn after eight years at Georgetown, was a Georgia assistant from 1996-2002.

The Tigers fell to 1-5 against ranked teams this season. They began the night 12th in the SEC in free-throw percentage (63.7).

Khaalidah Miller had a career-high 25 points in Georgia's 75-71 win at No. 8 Kentucky on Sunday. Miller, a junior, had 10 first-half points as the Lady Bulldogs led 34-22 at halftime. Miller didn't score in the second half.

Georgia scored 21 points off Auburn's 22 turnovers.

The Tigers opened the second half with a 9-2 run. Tra'cee Tanner's basket following her offensive rebound cut Georgia's lead to 36-31, the first of four times Auburn would cut the deficit to five points.

Following a missed jumper by Anne Marie Armstrong, who made only 1 of 11 shots, Muhammad's fast-break basket cut Georgia's lead to three points. A Georgia turnover then set up a layup by Davis, trimming Georgia's lead to 42-41 with 10:34 remaining.

Auburn finally pulled even at 51-51 with 4:35 remaining when Alverson made the first of two free throws. The last tie came at 53-all.