WBB: UGA Defeats Jacksonville State
A 17-point third quarter to clinch the lead powered a 52-44 win for the University of Georgia women’s basketball team over the Jacksonville State Gamecocks Sunday afternoon in front of 2,179 spectators at Stegeman Coliseum.
This is the third win for first year head coach Katie Abrahamson-Henderson, making her 3-0 record the best start in Georgia Head Coach history.
Fifth-year guard Diamond Battles paced the offense, tallying her third double-digit performance with 19 points, shooting 5-for-8 from the field and sinking eight free throws. Junior forward Zoesha Smith joined Battles in double-digit points, breaking her career record, with 12. Fifth-year forward Brittney Smith led in rebounds with 12 boards, just shy of her career record of 14.
“Obviously it was great to have Diamond (Battles) on our team because I didn’t have to really tell her much,” Coach ABE said. “She knew that down the stretch she had to draw fouls, control the tempo, control our team and everything so that that was a blessing. I think she really did a good job of staying calm. Everybody was getting the ball in her hands, making sure she yelled out the plays, told everybody what to do and she was good at the top of the defense too. She just knows how to guard and pass people off. I love her at the top because she’s long, tall and awesome in zone. We’re long and tall on the wings too. She was doing a good job of keeping people out of paint.”
A fast-paced offensive battle opened as Georgia (3-0) grabbed an early 3-0 lead with a jumper from Audrey Warren and a free throw by Smith. Jacksonville State (1-1) answered with back-to-back three pointers from the corner to take an 8-4 lead. Both teams traded points before Battles closed the first quarter with a three pointer from the top of the key and a pair of free throws as the Bulldogs trailed 11-10 heading into the second quarter.
A Gamecock jumper broke the two-minute scoring stalemate to open the second quarter. De’Mauri Flournoy added three points to the board for the Lady Bulldogs to kickstart the Georgia offense. A 5-0 run, fueled by an Audrey Warren three pointer, put the Lady Bulldogs within three points as JSU took a 23-20 lead into halftime.
Smith opened the scoring for the second half with a basket down low to put the Lady Bulldogs within one of the Gamecocks. A jumper from Battles out of the media timeout knotted the score, 30-30, as the Lady Bulldogs outscored the Gamecocks 17-7 in the third quarter. A pair of free throws from Warren gave Georgia its first lead of the night, 32-30. A 9-0 run in the final three minutes of the quarter extended Georgia’s lead to 37-30 for the final quarter.
Warren opened the fourth quarter with a jumper, breaking JSU’s pressing defense, to boost the Lady Bulldogs’ lead to nine, 39-30. Three free throws from the Gamecocks put JSU within four, 45-41, but Georgia used a 3-0 run to push their lead to seven, 48-41, with two minutes remaining. Four consecutive Battles free throws secured the 52-44 win for the Lady Bulldogs.
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