The Georgia Lady Bulldogs took the nationally fifth-ranked South Carolina Gamecocks to the brink of defeat in a 66-63 loss Thursday night at Colonial Life Arena in Columbia.

Georgia’s Shanea Armbrister hit a jumper with 46 seconds remaining in the game to pull within two points at 64-62. After the Lady Bulldogs’ defense held, junior guard Haley Clark drove to the hoop and drew a foul prompting two shots from the line. She converted on one to make it a 64-63 South Carolina advantage. The Gamecocks made two free throws after a foul and Georgia had an opportunity to tie the game on the last possession but Stephanie Paul’s shot went long.

“I’m proud of our girls’ effort,” Georgia head coach Joni Taylor said. “In the locker room, our message to them was this isn’t a feel-good loss for us. That was a game we could of won. I thought we had a good game plan and I thought the girls executed that game plan. We came out and had some possessions not go our way, and we had sometimes that we let them go on a run and we turned it over in critical moments. But I’m extremely proud of our effort, one of our keys to the game was rebounding the basketball, and we outrebounded South Carolina 40-34. I don’t think anybody thought that would happen. Our message to our players was this is what we have to do every game.”

Pachis Roberts and Caliya Robinson led Georgia in scoring with 17 points and 14 points, respectively. Mackenzie Engram contributed 11 points including three 3-pointers. Robinson grabbed ten rebounds to notch her fifth double-double of the season and ninth of her career.
 
 
The Lady Bulldogs continue their road slate Sunday afternoon against the Kentucky.