Jenna Staiti delivered 16 points, five rebounds and four blocks in just 28 minutes, and the Georgia Lady Bulldog basketball team rolled to a 73-57 victory over the Ole Miss Rebels on Sunday afternoon.
Gabby Connally had 13 points and Sarah Ashlee Barker added 11 points as the Lady Bulldogs won their fourth straight meeting against the Rebels. Georgia is 20-1 against Ole Miss in Athens.
The Lady Bulldogs are now 12-1 overall this season and 4-1 in SEC play. This is the team’s best start since the 2017-18 season, when Georgia finished the year with a 26-7 record.
“We’ve got our hands full,” head coach Joni Taylor said. “We’re going to have to be able to put a full four quarters on the floor. We’re going to have to play a complete game, meaning inside and out. Threes are not going to win us the game Thursday, and just an inside presence is not going to win us the game. We’ve always had the ability to shoot the basketball. I’ve always been confident in our guard’s ability to shoot it. So fortunately for us, we’re continuing to get better. And that’s what we want to see is as the season goes on, we continue to improve, get better, minimize mistakes, execute on the offensive end, and we’re doing that so far.”
Georgia jumped out on a 9-0 run and held Ole Miss scoreless for over four minutes in the first quarter. The Rebels went ahead and went a run of their own – scoring six straight points. Connally closed the first quarter with a corner 3-pointer to stretch the lead to 15-8.
The Lady Bulldogs opened the second quarter making 4-of-6 shots from the field – three of which came from Staiti – causing the Rebels to call a timeout. Barker came off the bench in the second frame and scored nine points in 10 minutes, all shots coming from beyond the arc.
Georgia went into halftime with a 36-23 lead.
The Lady Bulldogs took control at the start of the second half with a 13-5 edge over the Rebels with 4:53 remaining in the third quarter. Barker hit a jumper with 3:37 left in the third to extend Georgia’s lead to 52-28 after an Ole Miss turnover.
Ole Miss made five-straight field goals with three minutes remaining in an attempt to close the double-digit gap. The Rebels outscored the Lady Bulldogs, 22-19 in the fourth quarter. But Georgia never lost its footing in the paint and cruised to a win.
Overall, Georgia finished shooting 54% from the field and 71% from three-point range. The Lady Bulldogs had a 14-5 edge in second chance points, 12-0 in fast-break points.
Next up, Georgia will travel to Columbia, S.C. to take on the South Carolina Gamecocks on Thursday at 6:30 p.m. ET on the SEC Network.