University of Georgia Athletics
University of Georgia
South Carolina
Lady Bulldogs Best South Carolina
January 13, 2013 | Women's Basketball
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Jan. 13, 2013
Final Stats | Complete Box Score 
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 Jasmine James |
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ATHENS, Ga. --- The No. 13 Georgia Lady Bulldogs outlasted the No. 18 South Carolina Gamecocks, 42-40, on Sunday afternoon in Stegeman Coliseum.
Georgia (15-2, 3-1 SEC) was led by Jasmine Hassell with 19 points and Shacobia Barbee with seven rebounds. The Gamecocks (14-3, 2-2 SEC) were paced by Aleighsa Welch's 19 points and Tiffany Mitchell's 10 rebounds.
The victory was the lowest-scoring win in the history of Lady Bulldog Basketball, with the previous low set in a 43-42 win over DeKalb College on Jan. 17, 1974. That victory was the first in program history.
"You're talking about two very good defensive basketball teams," said head coach Andy Landers. "It seems like the last few times we've met, this has been the result. It's just hard-fought, and somewhat ugly at times offensively, but if you like defense, you'd like either team today."
South Carolina's 40 points is the least amount of points an SEC team has scored against Georgia since the Lady Bulldogs held the Gamecocks to 34 points in the 2011 SEC tournament.
The Gamecocks took an early 8-2 lead, which ended up being the largest advantage either team held in the game. Georgia tied the game at 10-10 two minutes later after the Lady Bulldogs executed an 8-2 run of their own.
After South Carolina's initial lead, neither team led by more than three points for the reminder of the period. The Gamecocks led 25-22 with less than a minute on the clock when Khaalidah Miller converted a three-point play to tie the game going into halftime.
In the first half, the Lady Bulldogs connected on 40.7 percent of their shots from the field while South Carolina made 45.8 percent of its field goals.
The beginning of the second period closely mirrored the start of the first half as South Carolina executed a quick 4-0 spurt, which the Lady Bulldogs answered with a brisk 4-0 surge of their own.
The teams matched each other basket-for-basket over the next few minutes before South Carolina took a 35-31 lead off of four unanswered points. Back-to-back trips to the free throw line by the Lady Bulldogs resulted in Georgia cutting the lead to 35-34 with less than 10 minutes remaining in the game.
A fast break layup by Miller gave Georgia its second lead of the half at 36-35. A made free throw by each team increased the score to 37-36 with five minutes left.
The Lady Bulldogs scored a quick four points with consecutive jumpers by Jasmine James and Hassell to put Georgia up 41-36 with 1:30 on the clock. South Carolina answered with a brief 4-0 run and cut Georgia's lead to 41-40.
Hassell connected on a free throw to give the Lady Bulldogs a narrow 42-40 advantage with 18 seconds remaining. As time ran out, South Carolina was unable to connect on a jumper that would have sent the game into overtime.
The Gamecocks out rebounded the Lady Bulldogs 37-28, which allowed them to score 10 second chance points, compared to Georgia's six. Georgia won the turnover battle, committing 21 to South Carolina's 24. The Lady Bulldogs outscored the Gamecocks in points off turnovers 16-14.
Next, the Lady Bulldogs travel to Fayetteville, Ark. to take on the Razorbacks on Thursday, Jan. 17 at 8:00 p.m. ET. Georgia returns home Sunday, Jan. 20 to host No. 20 Texas A&M at 5:00 p.m. The game will be broadcast nationally on ESPN2.
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Notes
• Following today's game, Georgia leads the all-time series with South Carolina 33-7, including a 15-2 mark in Athens.
• Andy Landers is now only 8 wins shy of his 900th career victory.
• With Khaalidah Miller's two 3-point FG attempts, she passes Ashley Houts for the 6th position in 3-point FG attempts among UGA's career leaders.
• Jasmine Hassell led the team in scoring for the second consecutive game with 19 points. This is the 7th time this season that she has either led or tied for the lead. She led this game from the beginning, scoring the first 8 points for Georgia.
• This 2-point win over South Carolina is the closest victory for the Lady Bulldogs this season. Georgia's regular-season victory over South Carolina last year was also a narrow victory, with a final score of 61-59.
• South Carolina did not have a 3-point FG the entire game.
• With this victory, the Lady Bulldogs improve to 3-1 in the SEC.
• The 40 points that South Carolina scored today is the least amount of points an SEC team has scored against Georgia since the Lady Bulldogs held South Carolina to 34 points in the 2011 SEC tournament.
• In the last 13 minutes of the game, Georgia held South Carolina to only one FG.
Lady Bulldogs In Double Digits
• Jasmine Hassell scored 19 points today for her 11th double-digit performance this season and 54th of her career.
Georgia Head Coach Andy Landers
On tonight's game...
"You're talking about two very good defensive basketball teams. It seems like the last few times we've met, this has been the result. It's just hard-fought, and somewhat ugly at times offensively, but if you like defense, you'd like either team today."
On the team's defense in the closing seconds...
"We did a nice job defensively on that last stand. They got the ball, and it looked like they wanted to get it inside and take it to the basket. We cut it off, and then we forced a bad shot and came off the weak side, and (Shacobia) Barbee was there. She went up strong and got it, and then she got it out of there so that the clock could run out."
On Jasmine Hassell's play...
"I felt like going in that Hassell had to get 12 shots, and then she gets 13 today. You know you're not going to get a lot of shots against South Carolina, so that was important for her."
South Carolina Head Coach Dawn Staley
On South Carolina's struggles on offense...
"I think it was a combination of our offense and their defense. I think the game came down to being able to make plays. They were able to make plays down the stretch with Hassell scoring on the block and getting the offensive rebound and we weren't able to make the plays. I think we turned down some shots we probably should have taken and I guess part of it is their defense, part of it is us not having confidence to just shoot it."
On what she saw from Georgia's defense...
"They played zone for 90 percent of the game and they played it well. You've just got to find ways to make shots on the inside. It's a shame somebody had to lose this game because both teams played extremely hard and it's what our league is all about. It's hard to win games on the road and I think if we're in Columbia we win, because they're here they won the game."
On South Carolina's turnovers...
"Once our players get the chance to see where they could have been more effective we can work on it. We'll see Georgia again and make some adjustments but it'll come down to the same things, being able to make plays and make shots."
