University of Georgia
Kennesaw State
Lady Bulldogs' Ease Past Owls Behind Hempe's Career-High
December 15, 2013 | Women's Basketball
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Dec. 15, 2013
ATHENS, Ga.----No. 16 Georgia used an early 16-2 burst and suffocating defense to pull clear of Kennesaw State early and never looked back as the Lady Bulldogs cruised to a 91-32 win in front of 2,953 fans at Stegeman Coliseum on Sunday. The victory pushes the Lady Bulldogs' record to 10-0 on the season.
Merritt Hempe led the Lady Bulldogs with a career-high 18 points, with Shacobia Barbee and Tiaria Griffin contributing 13 points each. Khaalidah Miller and Halle Washington added 12 points apiece. Barbee and Washington grabbed eight rebounds each to pace Georgia, which outrebounded the Owls 45 to 36.
"We shared the ball on a night when anybody could have gotten shots," said Georgia head coach Andy Landers. "That's discipline and teamwork and caring about your teammates. I was really pleased with that. We defended from the beginning to the end; there wasn't any drop in defense as we got closer to the end of the game or at any other point. (It was) an overall good game on a day when we could have lost our discipline and gone in the wrong direction, but we stayed the course and did what we needed to do and did it well."
Georgia opened the game with a Krista Donald lay-up from a Barbee pass to go up 2-0 and begin a 16-2 run in the first 8:19 of the game. Georgia's offense was driven by a stifling defense which forced Kennesaw State into several early turnovers, including two steals for Griffin in the first 10 minutes.
The Owls struggled to control Hempe in the low post early on, with the Fredericksburg, Va., native going 3-of-5 and 4-of-4 on free throws to collect 10 points in the first 7:30 of the game. With Hempe on the bench after hitting double digits, freshman Washington quickly added four points and a pair of rebounds. Washington finished the half with six points and four rebounds.
Miller jumped to No. 32 among Georgia's all-time leading scorers on a lay-up with 6:33 left in the first half.
After struggling to consistently hit shots early in the contest, the Lady Bulldogs became more efficient as the half wore on and finished the period having hit 17-of-38 for a 44.7 shooting percentage.
Hempe led Georgia in scoring at the half with 14 points, while Barbee paced the Lady Bulldogs on the boards with five rebounds. Four players recorded two assists in the first stanza with Donald, Barbee, Washington and Butler doubling up on dishes.
Barbee led the Lady Bulldogs to the half-century mark with 15:30 left in the game as she added four points in the first five minutes of the second half.
After Kennesaw State closed the gap to 29 points early in the second half, the Lady Bulldogs accelerated on the back of five points from Miller. Georgia went on its second dominant run of the game that stretched from the 15:30 mark to 8:17 left in the game and saw them outscore the Owls 25-0 and run the lead to 74-21.
Griffin led Georgia in the second half with nine points, while Halle Washington collected four rebounds.
Georgia scored a season-high 91 points. It is the third time this season and second consecutive game the Lady Bulldogs have hung 80-plus points and improves Georgia to 428-6 all-time when scoring 80-plus points during Andy Landers' 35 seasons in Athens.
Georgia will return to action on Tuesday when the Lady Bulldogs host Lipscomb at Stegeman Coliseum at 7:00 p.m. to wrap-up the Lady Bulldogs pre-Christmas home slate.
Single-game reserved seat tickets for Lady Bulldog games are $5 for adults and $3 for children. UGA students, faculty and staff are admitted to all Lady Bulldog games free of charge with a valid UGA Card. Faculty and staff should pick up tickets at the Coliseum box office. Students are admitted to the arena via the entrance to the left of the box office by showing their UGA Card.
Single-game tickets are on sale via georgiadogs.com, by calling 877-542-1231 or in person at the UGA Ticket Office in the Butts-Mehre Heritage Hall from 8:30-4:30 on weekdays. In addition, single-game tickets go on sale at the Stegeman Coliseum box office (closest to Sanford Drive) beginning 60 minutes before tip-off of every home game.
