[su_spacer size=”20″] With their 75-28 victory over Georgia Southern (0-3), the Lady Bulldogs basketball team (3-1) took their 50th consecutive home win over a non-conference foe. Georgia has not lost to a non-conference opponent in Stegeman Coliseum since falling 56-44 to Xavier on Dec. 30, 2008. The second mark the Lady Bulldogs hit was tying the fewest points the team has ever allowed in a game during the NCAA era of women’s hoops, which spans back to the 1981-82 season. They previously allowed 28 to Savannah State on January 15, 2009.
[su_spacer size=”40″] Merritt Hempe’s 20 points paced Georgia, who had three players score in double digits. She also had 11 boards to claim her fourth double-double. Shacobia Barbee posted a strong performance as well with 12 points, 12 boards and seven assists. It was her 13th career double-double and represented the second time in four games that the Lady Bulldogs have had two players record double-doubles in the same game. Georgia as a team put the clamps on Georgia Southern for the entire contest, holding the Eagles to 28 points on 22.2-percent shooting from the field. They held GSU to single-digit points in each quarter of play. All 10 Lady Bulldogs that touched the floor also put up points.
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Box Score Is HERE

[su_spacer size=”40″] “I think it’s really good for us,” said Head Coach Joni Taylor. “Any time you can beat someone that’s in state, that’s really important. I think it’s important for our players not to take that for granted. We were on paper better than Georgia Southern, but we still come out here and have a job to do.”
[su_spacer size=”40″] The Lady Bulldogs got a strong start from Merrit Hempe, who scored the team’s first three buckets and had seven of the team’s first nine points, en route to their 21st consecutive victory over the Eagles. The home team seized control of the game quickly, using an 18-0 run that spanned the final 8:12 of the opening quarter to take a commanding 22-5 lead after one.
[su_spacer size=”40″] Georgia went to its bench in the second, with Shanea Armbrister and Caliya Robinson netting their first points at Georgia. Robinson hit a buzzer beater on a feed from freshman Amber Skidgel, sealing a 41-15 edge for UGA heading into the break. The Bulldogs, who shot 44.4 percent from the field, held Georgia Southern to just 25 percent and forced 11 turnovers.
[su_spacer size=”40″] Georgia was stingy on the defensive end in the third quarter, allowing only five points in the frame to match its defensive effort from the first period and build its lead to 41 through the first 30 minutes of action. Georgia maintained its defensive dominance in the final period, keeping Georgia Southern to 28 points, tying the all-time low for the Georgia program on its own end of the floor. The Lady Bulldogs did not allow a double-digit effort from Georgia Southern in any quarter in the contest.
[su_spacer size=”40″] The Lady Bulldogs will head west for the Radisson Chatsworth Thanksgiving Classic in California, where they will take on BYU on Friday and either Cal State Northridge or Penn State on Saturday.

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