Lady Bulldogs Remain Undefeated, Beat Coppin State 49-29
December 02, 2014 | Women's Basketball
Georgia Over Coppin St 49-29: Highlights of Engram's big night and Georgia's 8th straight win.
Dec. 2, 2014
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ATHENS, Ga. --- Led by a career-high 20 points from freshman Mackenzie Engram, the No. 19 Georgia Lady Bulldogs continued their undefeated 8-0 start to the season on Tuesday night with a 49-29 win over the Coppin State Eagles in Stegeman Coliseum.
Engram, the only Lady Bulldog that scored in the double digits, added seven rebounds to her 20 points and shot a perfect 2-for-2 from 3-point range and 4-for-4 from the free-throw line. Engram topped her previous high of 12 points at Ohio State on Nov. 19.
Shacobia Barbee tallied eight points on the night and grabbed 10 boards, taking her over the 500 mark with a total of 509 career rebounds.
Coppin State entered the game averaging 61.2 ppg, but managed less than half that mark in the contest with Georgia. It is the lowest scoring output the Lady Bulldogs have allowed since a 77-22 matchup with Georgia Tech in 1976.
"Offensively we were definitely broken, but defensively we were pretty good," head coach Andy Landers said. "I would've liked to have rebounded a little more, but we turned them over and we forced them to shoot a little bit lower percentage than we shot. And we did it without fouling, that was the important piece."
Both teams were slow out of the gate, scoring only 16 points combined in the first 10 minutes of the game. After a free throw by Halle Washington, Georgia used a Krista Donald tip-in at the 6:51 mark to fuel a 12-0 scoring run. The Eagles answered with six consecutive points, but Georgia held a 20-14 advantage at the half with 11 of those points coming from Engram.
The Lady Bulldogs opened the second period with a defensive stand, shutting out Coppin State for more than nine minutes, and scoring 12 points during that time. Barbee highlighted the Georgia effort in the second half with eight points, eight rebounds, two assists and two steals.
The Lady Bulldogs will travel to Mercer on Thursday for a matchup at 7 p.m. They will then return home for a three-game stretch beginning with No. 16 Michigan State on Sunday at 4 p.m.
Mercer is coached by former Lady Bulldog Susie Gardner, who helped UGA to three SEC Championships, two Final Fours and an NCAA runner-up finish between 1982-86. Fans are encouraged to bring a new teddy bear or stuffed animal to the Mercer game. During halftime, a target will be placed at the center of the gym and fans will attempt to hit the target with the stuffed animals. The three fans that make is closest to the target will win prizes. More importantly, all the teddy bears and stuffed animals will be donated to the Children's Hospital Navicent Health in Macon.
The first 750 fans and 250 UGA students in attendance for the matchup with the Spartans will receive a free Lady Bulldog coffee tumbler.
In addition, the Michigan State contest will serve as a "Rally the Dawgs" school challenge day. Elementary schools in Clarke and Oconee counties will compete to see which can bring the most fans to the game. The school with the most fans in attendance will win $1000, second place will win $750 and third place will win $250. At each timeout, an elementary student will be selected to win various prizes such as an iPad, Xbox, bikes, gift cards and Beats by Dre Pill.
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.
Georgia Lady Bulldog Basketball Post-Game Notes & Quotes
Georgia vs. Coppin State
Tuesday, December 2, 2014 Stegeman Coliseum Athens, Ga.
Notes
Georgia held Coppin State to only 29 points, the lowest since January 10, 1976 against Georgia Tech when Georgia defeated the Yellow Jackets, 77-22.
The Lady Bulldogs improve to an 8-0 start for the third season in a row.
The Lady Bulldog basketball program is 12 wins away from reaching their 900th victory in program history.
Andy Landers is 17 victories away from his 950th win as a collegiate head coach.
Shacobia Barbee has now passed 500 total career rebounds with her 10 in tonight's game bringing her career total to 509.
Mackenzie Engram had her first 20-point game of her collegiate career tonight with 20 points.
Lady Bulldogs In Double Digits
Mackenzie Engram delivered her third double-digit output of the season and third of her career with 20 points.
Shacobia Barbee reached double-digits in rebounds tonight for the second time this season and the 14th time of her career with 10 rebounds.
Mackenzie Engram reached a season- and career-high scoring total tonight with 20 points.
Georgia Head Coach Andy Landers
On today's game...
"Offensively we were definitely broken, but defensively we were pretty good. I would've liked to have rebounded a little more but we turned them over and we forced them to shoot a little bit lower percentage than we shot. And we did it without fouling, that was the important piece."
On Mackenzie Engram...
"She has rescued us a couple of times this year, she really did. She played well. She attempted to rebound well, but could have rebounded better, been more effective. She was definitely in there attempting. She's got to be stronger as she rebounds the basketball. She shot the ball reasonably well, she made some good decisions and most of all, she played hard. She didn't have any turnovers and she had two steals."
On Shacobia Barbee and Mackenzie Engram...
"There can be a little connect there when they get going, especially in the open floor as there is. But Shacobia has that connection, I think, with everybody. I think she (Shacobia) and Krista are very good together. I think whoever she senses coming open or maybe creating an advantage for themselves, she's really good with that person. She's good with skip passes, penetrate-kick to the three, she's good with everybody."
Coppin State Head Coach Derek Brown
On today's game...
"I thought we just couldn't put the ball in the basket. Their defense sort of sped us up a little bit to where our rhythm was off on our shots. That's something that when you play teams that are ranked in the country, they're going to play this way and we just didn't put the ball in the basket. As far as our defense, I thought we played pretty good defense. We held them to 49 points. They went to the foul line. If you look at the field goals are probably not that much different because they shot 20-something fouls and we shot six fouls. That's the thing you have to look at also. Overall, I'm okay with it."
On their next opponent...
"We have to calm ourselves down offensively. It's going to be a hard fought game also. It's going to be very physical, but we can't let that physicality take over our emotion as we are on offense and shooting the ball. We've just got to calm ourselves down a little bit."