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From GeorgiaDogs.com: Nashville, Tenn. --- Christy Marshall scored 15 points off the bench to lead No. 23 Georgia (22-8) to a 71-62 victory over Alabama (8-22) in the opening round of the SEC Tournament at the Sommet Center on Thursday evening.

Marshall notched her fourth double-figure performance in the last six games, while Ashley Houts added 13 points and Tasha Humphrey chipped in 11 for the Lady Bulldogs.

Tierney Jenkins led Alabama with a game-high 21 points.

Georgia gradually pulled away from the Tide, the tournament's No. 12 seed, in the second half after leading only by two at intermission. The Lady Bulldogs held Alabama without a field goal for more than eight minutes and extended their lead from two points to double digits during that span.

"I was disappointed by the way we played in the first half," Andy Landers said. "There seemed to be a lack of effort or passion of playing with pride. I really don't know what to attribute that to. In the second half, I thought we played better. We rebounded reasonably well and got on the offensive boards. We were slowly able to build a lead that they couldn't come back from with about five minutes left.

The Lady Bulldogs started quickly and opened up a 10-2 lead 5:26 into the contest. Alabama countered with an 11-2 surge of its own to grab a 13-12 edge four minutes later, the first of eight lead changes during the rest of the period.

The Tide, which entered the game shooting just 38.7 percent from the field on the year, connected on 52.0 percent of their first-half shots.

With the win, Georgia advances to face fourth-seeded Kentucky in the semifinal round at 6:30 p.m. CT on Friday evening. The Lady Bulldogs and Wildcats finished the regular season with identical 8-6 SEC records; however, Kentucky secured the higher seed by virtue of a 47-44 win over Georgia on Jan. 31.