[su_spacer size=”40″] Behind an impressive team defensive performance the Georgia Lady Bulldog basketball team took down No. 10 Mississippi State, 47-43, Thursday night at Stegeman Coliseum for its first victory against a top-10 ranked team since Jan. 22, 2015.
[su_spacer size=”40″] The Lady Bulldogs (14-5, 2-4) have now defeated three ranked teams in the same year for the first time since the 2012-13 season. With the win Georgia holds a 28-15 all-time series advantage against Mississippi State (17-3, 4-2) and a 16-3 nod in games played in Athens.
[su_spacer size=”40″] Georgia was led by Shacobia Barbee with 17 points, 11 rebounds and three assists. The 43 points scored by Mississippi State marks a season low for the Bulldogs.
[su_spacer size=”40″] [foogallery id=”75476″] [su_spacer size=”40″] “I’m very proud of our girls,” head coach Joni Taylor said. “We came out and executed very well. We told them to just take it one possession at a time. I felt like we had been playing tight lately and put so much pressure on every shot that we took. Tonight we took what came to us and had a great team effort.”
[su_spacer size=”40″] Georgia opened the game in a 2-3 zone giving Mississippi State fits on the offensive end. The Lady Bulldogs’ length forced the opposition to settle for long shots resulting in Mississippi State shooting just 30.8-percent in the first quarter. Georgia started slow on offense, but got things rolling midway through the quarter eventually tying things up at 9-9 when Caliya Robinson banked in a three-point basket as time expired in the quarter.
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Georgia vs. Mississippi State Box Score – Click Here

[su_spacer size=”40″] The Lady Bulldogs picked up right where they left off to begin the second quarter scoring on their first possession and forcing four straight stops on the defensive end. Georgia pushed its lead to 13-9 midway through the second quarter and continued to show toughness on the defensive end eventually taking a 17-14 lead into the break. The stingy UGA defense forced the No. ranked Bulldogs to go 6-23 from the field and caused 10 turnovers.
[su_spacer size=”40″] Georgia came out firing in the third quarter scoring back-to-back buckets in the first 97 seconds. The highlight of the period came at the 6:12 mark when Robinson heaved a full-court pass to a sprinting Barbee who scored a layup and drew a foul to extend the Lady Bulldogs’ lead to 28-19. Mississippi State grabbed some of the momentum back ending the quarter on a 5-0 run to bring the score to 32-27 heading into the final 10 minutes.
[su_spacer size=”40″] Barbee nailed a three pointer to start things off in the fourth quarter and the Georgia defense answered on the following possession forcing a 10-second half court violation. Mississippi State scored three straight times down the court, but Robinson hit Barbee on a near identical full court pass to extend the UGA lead to seven. The Lady Bulldogs hit their free throws down the stretch to ensure the victory.
[su_spacer size=”40″] The Lady Bulldogs will return to action at home on Sunday afternoon (Jan. 24) at 2 p.m. against LSU.
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