AUBURN, Ala. — Victoria Dunlap scored 19 points and No. 20 Kentucky closed its regular season with a 76-62 win over Auburn on Sunday.
"I was just trying to have an attacking style, because in previous years, I would come here and miss a lot of easy shots," Dunlap said. "I have just been focusing on missing shots and not on my team, and this time I was focused on my offense, but help my teammates making easy shots."
Kentucky's victory, coupled with Georgia's loss at Florida, helped it earn the No. 2 seed in the Southeastern Conference Tournament.
The Wildcats have a first-round bye and will play Alabama or Louisiana State at 3:30 p.m. Friday at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville.
Kentucky (22-7, 11-5 Southeastern Conference) trailed 33-30 at the half after the Tigers' Alli Smalley swished a 35-footer at the buzzer.
The Cats used a 10-0 run in 2:58 to go up 50-43 with 10:34 to go, then, when the Tigers closed to 57-52, UK ripped off a 12-3 run ending in a Maegan Conwright three-point play and a 69-55 lead with 3:26 left.
"I thought our pressure defense was finally able to make a difference in the game and we were finally able to score off of our defense," UK Coach Matthew Mitchell said. "Auburn was playing such tough defense. I thought it was great for our defense to score on offense for us."
Auburn Coach Nell Fortner had plenty of praise for Kentucky's defense.
"Well they're all over the place, and they tend to bring an extra defender over to trap the ball down the floor," she said. "You can't see that it's usually a post defender, they'll go real small and it drives you crazy. It's very effective."
The Wildcats put three more players in double figures: A'dia Mathies scored 13, Keyla Snowden netted 11 and Conwright added 10.
"A lot of shots didn't fall, but I was able to get to the free throw line," Mathies said. "It wasn't my best game, but I'll take the win."
Kentucky shot 26-for-34 (76.5 percent) from the line and forced the Tigers into 29 turnovers.
"We made an effort in the second half to get to the rim and try to finish," Dunlap said. "If that gets you to the free-throw line, then so be it. We were just trying to be more aggressive in the second half."
Smalley led the Tigers (15-14, 8-8) with 24 points, Morgan Jennings scored 16, and Chantel Hilliard and Blanche Alverson each added 10.
SEC highlights
Florida 74, No. 22 Georgia 71: Jaterra Bonds scored 22 points, Jordan Jones added 18 and host Florida handed Georgia its third consecutive loss. The Gators closed out the regular season with a three-game winning streak.
Bonds was 5-for-10 from behind the arc, and Jones was 3-for-6. Georgia, meanwhile, missed 11 of 14 shots from three-point range.
No. 4 Tennessee 80, Louisiana St. 60: Angie Bjorklund scored 17 points and host Tennessee completed its ninth undefeated run through SEC play. The Lady Volunteers (28-2, 16-0) won their conference games by an average 24.1 points.
Tennessee hit 17 of its first 25 shots while holding LSU to 5-for-26 shooting. A three-pointer by Alicia Manning with 3:29 left in the first half gave Tennessee a 44-20 lead.















