(1) Tennessee 94, (13) Georgia 85
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- Candace Parker scored a career-high 26 points and had 10 rebounds Thursday night and No. 1 Tennessee remained undefeated with a 94-85 victory over No. 13 Georgia.
The Lady Vols (16-0, 2-0 Southeastern Conference) won their 62nd straight league home game. Georgia (11-4, 2-1) was the last SEC team to win in Thompson-Boling Arena in December 1996, and the Lady Bulldogs looked like they could end the drought.
Georgia trailed by nine points with 8 1/2 minutes left but cut it to 77-76 on two free throws by Sherill Baker with 3:53 to go.
Tennessee answered with a quick 7-0 run. Georgia wasn't finished and got within five after Baker made two free throws with 1:20 remaining. Parker followed with a fade-away jumper, but that didn't put it away. Alexis Kendrick hit a 3 for Georgia to make it 88-84 with 43 seconds left.
That was the Lady Bulldogs' last field goal. Shanna Zolman and Sidney Spencer each made two free throws in the final 39 seconds, and Alexis Hornbuckle got a rebound and drove for a layup with 8 seconds to go.
Spencer and Zolman each scored 17 points, and Hornbuckle added 12 despite getting into foul trouble late in the game.
Parker, who was 10-of-15 from the field, had six assists.
Baker tied her career high with 25 points on 10-of-20 shooting and had six rebounds.
Tasha Humphrey added 23 points and Kendrick had 11 for the Lady Bulldogs, who had a four-game winning streak snapped.
Georgia came in averaging a league-best 84.2 points per game, and Tennessee was second at 81.1.
Tennessee shot 56.5 percent (35-of-62) from the field, and the Lady Bulldogs shot 44.6 percent (29-of-65). Georgia got 25 points off Tennessee's 12 turnovers.
The Lady Bulldogs used a 10-0 to cut the lead to 58-55 with 13:43 to go. Tennessee pushed it back to five points twice, but Georgia trimmed it to 63-62 with 11:35 remaining after Humphrey scored and Baker had a layup off a turnover.
The Lady Vols responded with a 7-0 run started by Zolman's 3, and they increased the lead to 70-62 with 9:15 left.
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