The Georgia Lady Bulldog basketball team outlasted the Furman Paladins 69-43 in Stegeman Coliseum Sunday afternoon.
Georgia (7-0) is off to its best start in four seasons and has one non-conference game remaining on its schedule when Appalachian State visits this Tuesday at noon ET.
On Sunday, senior center Jenna Staiti recorded 15 points on 5-of-9 shooting and grabbed six rebounds. Guards Maya Caldwell and Que Morrison pitched in with 10 and 9 points, respectively. Morrison also pulled down a career-high 13 rebounds.
“First of all, let’s give Furman credit. Those were three freshman guards you saw out there in 4, 35, and in 13.. For them to be able to handle and navigate us the way they did and be able to go on runs and take a punch and come back giving us a punch. I always give them a lot of credit,” head coach Joni Taylor said. “I was pleased with the first quarter, not pleased with the second, pleased with half of the third, and all of the fourth. I go back to what I always say that it’s good to always have options. Not that anyone played bad, but once Furman started making a run, we just had to sub until we found the right five. We did that in the second half, and that’s the crew we stayed with.”
The Lady Bulldogs were quiet in the first few minutes of the game, but 3-pointers from Caldwell and Gabby Connally jumpstarted a 14-2 run midway through the first quarter.
Furman suffered through a lengthy scoring drought in the second frame, propelling Georgia to extend their double-digit lead by as much as 17. The Paladins capitalized off three consecutive Georgia turnovers and ended the half on a 7-0 run.
Furman outscored Georgia 16-12 in the second frame, but the Lady Bulldogs still held on to a 35-26 lead at the break.
While Georgia struggled to find an offensive rhythm at the beginning of the third quarter, momentum shifted in favor of Furman, which went on an 8-0 run to cut the Paladins’ deficit to just four points.
Georgia answered, scoring eight consecutive points in three minutes and extended the lead back up to 12 going into the final 10 minutes.
The Lady Bulldogs gained control and shut down the Paladins throughout the fourth quarter. Georgia outscored Furman, 23-9 and shot 64% from the field in that effort.