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LITTLE ROCK, Ark.--Nia Moore scored 14 points and Bashaara Graves added 13 points to help lead the fourth-ranked Tennessee Lady Volunteers over Georgia 75-41 in the quarterfinals of the SEC Tournament on Friday.
The Lady Vols (26-4) opened its stay in the SEC tournament in strong fashion after receiving a double bye in the bracket as the No.
2 seed. The Orange and White pulled ahead early against Georgia (19-12) and led by 21 points by halftime at Verizon Arena.
Tennessee will face either third-seeded Mississippi State or sixth-seeded Kentucky in the semifinals Saturday at 7 p.m.
Graves shot 5 of 6 from the field to finish with 13 points to go along with a team-leading 11 rebounds, recording the 20th double-double of her career. Moore was a perfect 6 of 6 from the field to finish with 14.
A pair of Lady Vol seniors reached individual milestones with their performances early.
Cierra Burdick scored six points to become the fourth Lady Vol this season to reach the 1,000-career-point club, joining Graves,Isabelle Harrison and Ariel Massengale.
With three assists, Massengale became the third player in program history to reach 1,000 points and 500 assists. She also had 10 points.
Tennessee also had a record day defensively, holding Georgia to 41 points, the fewest points the Lady Vols have ever allowed in an SEC Tournament game. The previous low was holding Georgia to 44 points in the 1982 semifinals, which the Lady Vols won 55-44.
The Lady Vols went on a 15-0 run early in the first half and never looked back. A free throw by Cirra Burdick capped the scoring streak to put Tennessee ahead 17-4 with 12:14 in the first half.
By halftime, Tennessee led 32-11. The 11 points is the fewest the Lady Vols have allowed in the first half since limiting Arkansas to that many points in 2012.
Graves paced UT in the first half with seven points and seven rebounds. Six different Lady Vols scored with four having at least six points.
Georgia made just 5-of-30 shots (16.7 percent) from the field in the first half, including 1 of 7 (14.3 percent) from 3-point range. Tiaria Griffin scored 9 of Georgia's 11 points.
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