Davis' career-high 33 lead Ole Miss women past Florida 84-74 in SEC quarterfinal

GREENVILLE, S.C. — Marquesha Davis scored a career-high 33 points as third-seeded Mississippi topped 11th-seeded Florida, 84-74 in the quarterfinals of the SEC tournament on Friday night.

The Rebels advance to face eighth-ranked LSU, the tournament's second seed, in the second of two semifinal games Saturday. Top-ranked and top-seeded South Carolina takes on fifth-seeded Tennessee in the other semifinal.

Florida held a 37-36 lead at the half and Aliyah Matharu's layup with 5:43 left in the third quarter gave the Gators a 46-41 lead. But Kennedy Todd-Williams hit from distance, followed it with a layup and added two free throws with 46 seconds left in the period, and Madison Scott added a layup in the final second to give Ole Miss a 56-54 lead to start the final quarter. Leilani Correa's layup with 2:35 left put Florida in front 71-70 but the Rebels scored 14 straight points from the free-throw line to close out the win.

The teams combined to shoot 70 free throws in the contest. Ole Miss knocked down 27 of 38 while Florida was 25 of 32 from the line.

Davis was 11 of 19 from the field and was 10 of 17 from the line to lead the Rebels (23-7). Todd-Williams was 3 of 8 from the field, but converted 11 of 12 from the line to finish with 18 points while Madison Scott turned in a double-double, putting up 14 points and grabbed 15 rebounds.

Matharu was a perfect 10-for-10 from the line to lead Florida (16-15) with 24 points. Correa scored 18 points and grabbed nine rebounds off the bench and Zippy Broughton contributed 12 points.

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