(Photo by John Kelley)
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Fueled by a 16-point night from Tiaria Griffin, the No. 20 Georgia Lady Bulldogs defeated Missouri 69-48 on Thursday night at Stegeman Coliseum. With the victory, Georgia remains undefeated at home with 10-straight wins.
The Lady Bulldogs improve to 14-2 on the year with a 2-1 mark in Southeastern Conference play, while the Tigers fall to 10-6 (0-3 SEC).
Griffin led Georgia’s shooting campaign with 16 points, and Shacobia Barbee added 12 points. Krista Donald tallied a team-best nine rebounds.
Missouri opened the game on a quick, four-second drive to the basket, but Georgia took the lead less than a minute later after sophomore Pachis Roberts, in her first career start, recorded a steal and sunk a layup. The Tigers hit multiple 3-pointers to stay within striking distance for most of the first period, however.
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(Photo by John Kelley)
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With a 21-18 lead nearing the break, Barbee hit a jumper to ignite a Georgia run. Marjorie Butler capitalized on a Missouri turnover, hitting consecutive shots, one from behind the arc, and Barbee added another basket to put the Lady Bulldogs up 30-18 at halftime.
Georgia continued its run in the second stanza, outscoring the Tigers 14-4 in the opening minutes of the half. Spanning both periods, the Lady Bulldogs kept Missouri away from the basket for more than eight minutes. But the Tigers rallied, narrowing the deficit from 23 points to 14 in a short3:09. Griffin put Georgia back in control on a 3-pointer that was followed shortly by a jumper from Mackenzie Engram. Erika Ford and Jasmine Carter added shots in the final minutes of the game to give Georgia a 20-point advantage.
“It was an excellent team effort,” head coach Andy Landers said. “That’s what it was going to take because when you run people off as many screens as they do and the motion that they do defensively, you have to have five people ready to help each other and ready to jump switch. And I thought we were really good.”
Georgia capitalized on turnovers, converting 22 Missouri miscues into 29 points, while the Tigers managed only six points on 11 Lady Bulldog turnovers. Georgia also tallied 12 second-change points and 31 points from the bench.
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(Photo by John Kelley)
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The Lady Bulldogs will hit the road for a two-game SEC tour, traveling to Auburn and Ole Miss for matchups on January 11 and 15, respectively. Georgia will return to Stegeman Coliseum on Sunday, January 18 to face Vanderbilt at 2 p.m.
Single-game reserved seat tickets for Lady Bulldog games are $5 for adults and $3 for children. UGA students, faculty and staff are admitted to all Lady Bulldog games free of charge with a valid UGA Card. Faculty and staff should pick up tickets at the Coliseum box office. Students are admitted to the arena via the entrance to the left of the box office by showing their UGA Card.
Single-game tickets are on sale via georgiadogs.com, by calling 877-542-1231 or in person at the UGA Ticket Office in the Butts-Mehre Heritage Hall from 8:30-4:30 on weekdays. In addition, single-game tickets go on sale at the Stegeman Coliseum box office (closest to Sanford Drive) beginning 60 minutes before tip-off of every home game.
Georgia Lady Bulldog Basketball
Post-Game Notes & Quotes
No. 20/19 Georgia vs. Missouri
Thursday, January 8, 2015 • Stegeman Coliseum • Athens, Ga.
Notes
• Georgia leads the series with Missouri 4-2, including a 3-1 mark in Athens.
• Georgia improves to 10-0 at home this season.
• The Lady Bulldog basketball program is six wins away from reaching its 900th all-time victory.
• Andy Landers is 11 victories away from his 950th win as a collegiate head coach.
• Shacobia Barbee is 182 points from 1,000 career points.
• Tiaria Griffin led Georgia offensively for the fourth straight game.
Lady Bulldogs In Double Digits
• Tiaria Griffin reached her 12th double-digit scoring output of the season and 35th of her career with 16 points.
• Shacobia Barbee produced her 10th double-digit scoring output of the season and 38th of her career with 12 points.
Georgia Head Coach Andy Landers
On today’s game…
“It was an excellent team effort. That’s what it was going to take because when you run people off as many screens as they do and the motion that they do defensively, you have to have five people ready to help each other and ready to jump switch. And I thought we were really good. I thought the press had its effect early in the game. It got us out of the gate. It got us some turnovers, got us some layups and got us out and going. Anytime we do that, it kick starts our confidence a little bit and we usually follow that kind of play when we can turn people over with some made shots in the half court.”
On Mackenzie Engram…
“Mackenzie came off the bench and had seven rebounds. She’s one of those kids who always surprises me when I get the stats. They’re quiet. Some of the things she does and the numbers that she can accumulate in a short period of time shocks me, particularly as it relates to rebounds. She had seven rebounds in 18 minutes tonight.”
On Halle Washington…
“It was Halle’s best game. I think she’s finally starting to get in shape and get a little confidence. She did a nice job defensively and an excellent job of rebounding the ball. And then in close to the basket, she did a terrific job of finishing.”
Missouri Head Coach Robin Pington
On today’s game…
“We just felt like with Jordan (Frericks) getting into foul trouble…she is such a key piece to what we are doing. We came out in the second half and we had some great looks underneath the basket. Those are the ones that you work so hard to get against a team like Georgia. When you get the open look, you’ve got to be able to finish it. I felt like out of the gates after the first couple of possessions we finally settled in and handled their full court pressure, but we can’t even come out of the gates like that. We knew it was coming at us. Right now it’s hard because we can’t even practice against that kind of pressure. We’ve got to make the adjustment from game to game.”
On Maddie Stock…
“I thought she played with some toughness and some grit. Now if we can get her doing things like that consistently. I thought Maddie Stock did alright tonight, too. I thought she had some really good minutes for us. Obviously Morgan Eye…they were guarding her hard. (She) didn’t get a lot of minutes. Like I said, at times I thought we looked really good and then there were times that when you play basketball like that it’s going to be a long night.”
On the rest of the season…
“I’ve got a lot of confidence in this group. Tonight I think it’s safe to say that we understand. We’ve had our challenges this year. We’ve had some curveballs and dealing with a lot of adversity. We understand exactly where we are at, but there is no quit in this team. I thought our kids laid it all out their for 40 minutes tonight and I’m really proud of them for that.”