Jenna Staiti and Maya Caldwell led a balanced scoring attack to give the Georgia Lady Bulldog basketball team a 97-32 win in the first game of its foreign tour to Italy on Wednesday.
Staiti posted a double-double of 15 points and 12 rebounds, while Caldwell led all scorers with 18 points. Overall, every available player for the Lady Bulldogs tallied 10 or more minutes.
“I saw a lot of good things tonight,” head coach Joni Taylor said. “We have put in a lot of new stuff and have a good group of new players. It was good to see them get out there and just play against someone else. Obviously, we are here to get better, but also to bond as a team. It has been really good to see us bond on this trip and get familiar with each other.”
The Lady Bulldogs came out strong from the start, jumping to a 25-12 lead at the end of the first quarter. Georgia held Tuscany Select to single-digit point totals in each of the remaining three periods to put the finishing touches on the win.
Georgia’s class of newcomers saw its first action on Wednesday. Freshman Jordan Isaacs led the way with 10 rebounds to go with seven points. Fellow rookie Javyn Nicholson hit 4-for-5 from the field in an efficient 16 minutes played.
Wednesday’s game in Florence was the first exhibition of Georgia’s foreign tour. The Lady Bulldogs visited Rome on Monday and Tuesday and will be in Florence until Saturday.
Georgia’s next game will be against Italy Select on Friday night.