Washington, Florida women beat Ole Miss in SEC tourney 64-57

GREENVILLE, S.C. (AP) — Delicia Washington and Funda Nakkasoglu combined to score 30 of their 34 points in the second half to help Florida beat Mississippi 64-57 on Wednesday in the first round on the Southeastern Conference tournament.

The 13th-seeded Gators (8-22) will play No. 5 seed Missouri in Thursday’s second round.

Washington shot 8 of 14 from the field and grabbed eight rebounds and Nakkasoglu finished with 17 points, including three 3-pointers. Her 83 made 3s this season ties Steffi Sorensen for the second-most in a single season at Florida.

Neither team led by more than five points until Nakkasoglu hit two 3-pointers in a 10-3 spurt that made it 36-28 with two minutes left in the third quarter. Crystal Allen answered with two free throws before Florida scored nine consecutive points, including five by Washington, to take a 15-point lead early in the fourth. The 12th-seeded Rebels trailed by at least seven points the rest of the way.

Allen led Ole Miss with 22 points and La’Karis Salter added 11. The Rebels, who closed their season on a six-game losing streak, were 3-of-12 shooting and committed six turnovers in the third quarter.

Florida has won back-to-back games for the first time since winning three in a row to open December.