ATHENS, Ga. (AP) — Teaira McCowan had 26 points and 13 rebounds to help No. 5 Mississippi State remain unbeaten with an 86-62 win over Georgia on Sunday in the Southeastern Conference women’s basketball opener for both teams.

McCowan scored nine of Mississippi State’s (15-0, 1-0 SEC) 16 points in the first quarter when not much else was going right. She gathered in 12 of her 13 rebounds in the first half.

Victoria Vivians added 20 points for Mississippi State while Roshunda Johnson had 16.
Georgia (12-2, 0-1) got 13 points from Caliya Robinson and 10 apiece from MacKenzie Engram and Haley Clark.

Mississippi State came in accustomed to a fast start, averaging a 25-13 first-quarter spread. But it was Georgia that bolted out of the gate, scoring the first two baskets in less than a minute, prompting an early timeout call by MSU head coach Vic Schaefer.

Mississippi State managed a 16-14 lead at the quarter break, thanks to nine points by McCowan. State took over in the second quarter and led 33-19 with 3:50 to go in the half. A pair of 3-pointers by Blair Schaefer and Vivians’ mid-range game sparked the surge.

McCowan had a first-half double-double with 15 points and 12 rebounds as State led 37-27 at the half. She has seven straight double-double games.

In the second half, McCowan kept scoring inside, and Johnson sank three 3-pointers, putting State on top 61-35 with 2:11 to go in the third quarter.

Georgia never mounted a serious threat down the stretch.

Arkansas 73, Ole Miss 72

Devin Cosper had a double-double with 18 points and 11 rebounds, and Arkansas (10-4, 1-0 SEC) held off Ole Miss (10-4, 0-1) on Sunday in the SEC opener for both teams.

Torri Lewis hit a 3-pointer with 54 seconds left in the game to pull Ole Miss to within a point. Ole Miss had possession of the ball twice in the final 25 seconds, but a floater by Alissa Alston bounced off the rim and then her inbounds pass with four seconds to go was stolen, giving Arkansas the ball as time expired.

Alston finished with 18 points and seven assists for the Rebels, and Madinah Muhammad scored 17 points.

Arkansas entered as the second-best 3-point shooting team in the SEC at 8.2 per game and was 8-for-21 on Sunday. Malica Monk hit four of those and finished with 12 points.

“They spread you out, they shoot a bunch of threes — it’s just an awkward style to play against,” Ole Miss coach Matt Insell said. “I thought we did a good job outside of the first quarter. They average 33 three attempts a game, and we held them to 21.”