South Carolina uses strong 3rd quarter to beat Georgia 68-51

ATHENS, Ga. (AP) — Zia Cooke scored a career-high 31 points and No. 1 South Carolina recovered after trailing throughout the first half to beat Georgia 68-51 on Monday night.

Aliyah Boston, the reigning AP Player of the Year, scored a season-low four points, her second consecutive game in single figures. Boston made only one of six shots from the field and had five rebounds.

Cooke, who has scored 14 or more points in six consecutive games, helped fill the scoring void for the Gamecocks (14-0, 2-0 Southeastern Conference). Cooke made four of 12 3-pointers and 11 of 13 free throws.

No other South Carolina player scored in double figures.

Georgia (11-5, 0-2) started strong but was denied its first win over a No. 1 team since beating Louisiana Tech in the 1996 NCAA Tournament.

Audrey Warren led Georgia with 12 points. Brittney Smith and Javyn Nicholson each had 10.