No. 13 Georgia holds off Mississippi State
STARKVILLE, Miss. (AP) — Que Morrison scored 14 points, Mikayla Coombs added 13 and No. 13 Georgia built a 27-point early lead and then held on to beat Mississippi State 66-63 on Thursday night for its third straight win.
Georgia (15-3, 4-2 Southeastern Conference) also ended a six-game skid against Mississippi State (11-6, 2-3), and collected its first victory in Starkville since 2012.
Rickea Jackson's jumper gave Mississippi State its only lead of the game, 63-62, with 53 seconds remaining. Coombs answered with a corner jump shot before Denae Carter missed a jumper for Mississippi State.
Morrison added a pair of free throws with 10 seconds left. Jackson then missed a 3-point attempt to end it.
Jenna Staiti had 10 rebounds to go with eight points for Georgia, which outrebounded Mississippi State 50-28.
Georgia closed the first quarter on a 16-0 run, led 38-11 midway through the second and built a 44-24 halftime advantage. Morrison scored 10 points in the first half as Georgia shot 54.5% (18 of 33) and grabbed 20 more rebounds.
Jackson scored 27 points on 12-of-26 shooting for Mississippi State. Anastasia Hayes added 16 points and Myah Taylor had 11.
Georgia, which has played four of its last five games on the road, will host fifth-ranked Tennessee on Sunday. Mississippi State plays at Arkansas on Sunday.
___
More AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25