In its first true road contest of the season, the No. 20-ranked University Georgia Lady Bulldog basketball team defeated the Texas Tech Lady Raiders 66-56 at United Supermarkets Arena on Thursday Afternoon.
Georgia improves its record to 7-0 overall, while Texas Tech (6-2) drops just its second game of the season.
Graduate guard Que Morrison led Georgia with 20 points, scoring in double figures for the 17th time in the last 20 games.
“We kept chipping away at it and in year’s past we would have panicked, everybody would have tried to do it themselves,” said head coach Joni Taylor. “We kept chipping away, finding the right way, and everyone contributed. It took all of us today, I’m really proud of our calmness. There’s no letup in them. Texas Tech is a tough, gritty team. They gave us all we wanted, we knew were starting to wear them down and we continued to play our basketball.”
The Lady Bulldogs found themselves down 9-0 early. Redshirt senior Malury Bates and graduate student Jenna Staiti scored back-to-back jumpers, putting Georgia on the board. Georgia’s defense held steady as they kept the Lady Raiders from scoring for two full minutes, gaining momentum on offense. After a last-second Texas Tech and-one, Georgia trailed 21-14 after the first quarter.
The visiting team made a significant comeback in the second quarter. Georgia took advantage of the Lady Raider turnovers to end the second down by three points. Georgia’s defense held Texas Tech scoreless for the last 3 minutes. On offense, freshman Jillian Hollingshead, junior Chloe Chapman, and graduate student Que Morrison contributed to a 6-0 run. The Lady Dogs would head into the locker room down 28-25.
A Staiti layup at the 8:05 mark ignited Georgia’s offense. Barker scored quickly with a fastbreak layup to even the score — that was followed by a Morrison jumper that gave the Lady Bulldogs their first lead of the game.
For the remaining four minutes, the lead went back and forth. Barker led on offense, putting Georgia ahead with a 3-pointer. The Lady Raiders came back, but it wasn’t enough as Morrison ended the quarter with a 3-point shot, putting the Lady Dogs ahead 46-42.
After Texas Tech evened out the score early, a 7-0 run helped Georgia re-take the lead. Not looking back, the Lady Dogs held steady as Staiti and Morrison scored late points to widen the gap. Locking down on defense and continuing the offensive drive, Georgia closed the game with a 66-56 win.