Senior guard Que Morrison scored a career-best 25 points — 19 of those in the second half — to lead the Georgia Lady Bulldog basketball team past Alabama, 83-76, in overtime.
Georgia (14-4, 6-4 SEC) has now won six of the last seven matchups against Alabama (12-5, 5-5 SEC). Five of the last six wins have come in overtime.
The Lady Bulldogs committed a season-low 13 turnovers, scored 52 points in the paint and had 24 points in transition.
“We have gotten away from scoring in transition the last few games,” head coach Joni Taylor said. “We were committed to running all four quarters, and it worked for us. It is extremely difficult to have to score in the half court all night long. I thought that took some pressure off of us offensively. This is who we were and we got away from it the last two games. Tonight, we limited turnovers, scored in transition and got to the free-throw line. It makes a huge difference.”
Alabama scored the first eight points in the game as the Lady Bulldogs missed their first seven shots. A Gabby Connally 3-pointer, followed by back-to-back layups by Morrison cut the Crimson Tide’s lead to 10-7.
The Lady Bulldogs went on an 8-0 run to take a 15-10 lead, before Alabama answered back with a combination of Jasmine Walker and Ariyah Copeland in the paint. The Crimson Tide held a slim 18-15 edge at the end of one.
Alabama stayed ahead the remainder of the half, which was capped off with a Hannah Barber 3-pointer with six seconds on the clock.
Down 35-31 at the break, Georgia came out strong in the second half, forcing four Alabama turnovers in the first three minutes. The Tide miscues led to points for the Lady Bulldogs, who led 44-41 with 4:36 left in the period.
Georgia maintained that three-point edge going into the fourth up 53-50.
The Lady Bulldogs were up 66-60 midway through the fourth, but the Tide scored five points on one trip down the floor to inch closer. With the score knotted up at 69-69 all, Mikayla Coombs’ shot at the buzzer fell short and the two teams went to overtime.
In the extra period, Morrison knocked in two free-throws and made a driving layup to put Georgia up 73-69. The Lady Bulldogs never looked backed and held on for the win.