The Lady Dawgs were back to their old selves on Wednesday, December 28 as they faced off against Western Carolina. After a six-day break, the Georgia women’s basketball team came out with a new identity and won comfortably 78-43.
Seven of the eight players for Georgia scored at least two points, and Georgia had four players that scored double-digit points; three of which were career highs. Pachis Roberts lead the Lady Dawgs with 29 points and 11 rebounds and four assists and was a career high for her. She also grabbed three steals and two blocks on the night. Simone Costa, Mackenzie Engram, and Shanea Armbrister joined Roberts by scoring in double-digits. Costa and Engram put up 14 points a piece. Armbrister scored 13. Costa and Armbrister’s performances were both career highs as well.
The Dawgs shot 57.7 percent from the floor during the first half. They dominated on defense containing Western Carolina to only shooting 33.3 percent from the floor. Also, the defense didn’t allow the Catamounts on the foul line the entire first half.
Georgia sealed the deal by outscoring Western Carolina 24-8 in the opening part of the second half. The Lady Dawgs scored 31 points off of the Catamounts 23 turnovers. Georgia also had 17 fastbreak points scored during the ball game. The team shot an impressive 58 percent from the floor and 65 percent from the foul line.
After the last two games, this performance was the confidence boost that the ladies need going into conference play. Western Carolina was their final non-conference game of the season, and the Dawgs did their job. Instead of letting the last two games dictate the mentality of the team, their confidence returned, and the team looked refreshed and ready to play.
“We spent the last few days going over some things. We needed to cover it for ourselves. It was really good to see them play hard and get the reward after the final alarm went off,” head coach Joni Taylor said.
The Lady Dawgs kick off Southeastern Conference play on Jan. 1 on the road against Missouri for a 1 p,m. tip-off game. Georgia will return home on Jan. 5 to host Texas A&M and that game will tip-off at 7 p.m.