South Carolina 65, Auburn 63

3/1/2007 2:18 PM

By CHARLES ODUM
AP Sports Writer

DULUTH, Ga. (AP) -South Carolina rallied from a second-half deficit of 11 points to beat Auburn 65-63 on Thursday to win the opening game of the Southeastern Conference women's tournament.

A lay-up by Ilona Burgrova with 20 seconds left gave South Carolina a 64-63 lead. The final margin was South Carolina's biggest lead of the second half.

After Burgrova's basket, DeWanna Bonner missed from 8 feet for Auburn, and the scramble for the rebound led to a jump ball with 3.6 seconds left - giving possession to the Gamecocks.

Stacy Booker led South Carolina (17-13) with 14 points. Lakesha Tolliver had 12 points and Lauren Simms added 11 for the Gamecocks.

Bonner led Auburn (19-12) with 21 points. Keke Carrier added 14 points.

South Carolina and Auburn each posted 6-8 regular-season records in the conference.

The big lead for each team was only four points before Bonner sparked a 9-0 run with a three-point play. Auburn led 48-37 at the end of the stretch with 11 minutes left in the game.

South Carolina answered with a 17-6 run, including 8 straight points, to pull even at 54-54 with 6:07 left.

A basket by Melanie Johnson tied the game. Johnson, who had 10 points and 10 rebounds, scored again with 5:21 left to give South Carolina a 56-55 lead.

Bonner leads Auburn with her average of 15.1 points per game, but the sophomore was held scoreless in South Carolina's 70-61 win over the Tigers on Feb. 15 in Columbia, S.C. Bonner was 0-for-8 from the field.

Bonner needed only a few seconds to make sure she didn't repeat that scoreless performance in the postseason rematch. Bonner scored off the opening tipoff and had 10 points in the first half.

A basket by South Carolina's Brionna Dickerson late in the first half left the game tied at 27-27 at halftime.

Alexis Ogubie didn't play in the first half but had six points in the first seven minutes of the second half as the Tigers took a 44-37 lead.