The Georgia Lady Bulldogs were defeated by the No. 2 South Carolina Gamecocks on Thursday night at the Stegeman Coliseum, 74-42.

Two minutes into the first quarter, Freshman Mia Woolfolk scored the first basket of the game, starting the Lady Bulldogs off strong at 0-2. Unfortunately, this lead of two points was the largest lead that Georgia would see all night.

At the end of the first half, fifth-year Roxane Makholo led the team highs with four points. Despite missing five games previously in January, Makholo totaled nine points in tonight’s game. 

The first half ended with the Gamecocks up, 33-15. South Carolina’s largest lead this far was by 19 points, compared to Georgia’s lead of 2 points. 

The second half started off strong for the Lady Bulldogs. Senior Asia Avinger scored a jumper within the first minute of the third quarter, 33-17. Avinger scored twice again after that, leading the team with nine points after the third quarter.

Georgia Head Coach Katie Abrahamson-Henderson spoke about her locker room discussion with the team during half-time that led to Avinger’s determination in the third quarter. 

“I was like you can’t shoot quick shots with this team,” Abrahamson-Henderson said. “I told Asia you’re open for your pull up jumper, and she started hitting that.”

Freshman Mia Woolfolk also created several scoring opportunities for the Lady Bulldogs in Thursday’s tough game. Woolfolk led the team with seven rebounds. She also added nine points for Georgia. 

Despite Georgia’s hard loss to the Gamecocks, the Lady Bulldogs proved to have strong defense. They kept South Carolina below their season average of 81.4 points per game

Ultimately, the Lady Bulldogs were defeated by the second-ranked South Carolina Gamecocks, 74-42.

Coach Abrahamson-Henderson also spoke about how she keeps her five freshmen on the team positive after such a loss.

“I think they understand that they have to go through some growing pains, and they understand how lucky they are,” she said. “I tell them that they’re lucky that they actually get to play. We try to tell our players that they can’t exchange this experience.” 

On Sunday, Feb. 9, the Georgia Lady Bulldogs are back at the Stegeman Coliseum. They will face Arkansas with tipoff set for noon.