University of Georgia Athletics
Lady Bulldogs Hold Off Oakland With 64-61 Win
November 21, 2008 | Women's Basketball
ROCHESTER, Mich. --- Angela Puleo scored a career-high 22 points, including Georgia's last four, to lead the Georgia Lady Bulldogs (2-0) to a 64-61 victory over Oakland (2-1) on Thursday night.
Porsha Phillips and Angel Robinson added 12 points apiece for Georgia.
Puleo was hot early and late. She scored 18 first-half points to equal her career high but didn't score again until there was just over a minute remaining. A baseline jumper at the 1:03 mark put Georgia up 62-60 and two free throws with 2.4 seconds left iced the victory.
"I thought Angela did a great job to shoot us out to the 10-point lead and then stepped up and hit a big jumper from the baseline when it got tight and two free throws at the end to secure at least overtime," head coach Andy Landers said.
Puleo calmly sank both ends of a one-and-one before Oakland's desperation three didn't come within 20 feet of the basket.
The Lady Bulldogs owned a comfortable lead for most of the evening and then held off the Golden Grizzlies following a 10-0 run. Georgia led 58-48 after a layup by Jasmine Lee with 6:41 left before Oakland scored 10 unanswered and tied the game on a steal and layin by by April Kidd knotted the score with 2:42 remaining.
Christy Marshall finally ended the skid with a short jumper and the teams traded buckets before the Puleo jumper made it 62-60. Kidd then missed one of two free throws with 50.2 left. Both teams missed shots before Puleo was fouled while the Lady Bulldogs were attempting to dribble out the clock.
The Lady Bulldogs started quickly and opened up an 11-2 lead before Oakland answered to pull within one at 15-14 with 10:54 remaining in the half. Puleo then knocked down a trio of threes in just a span of 2:55. That, mixed with a Lee layup, pushed the margin to 26-16 at the 8:08 mark.
Puleo equaled her career-high with that three, matching the 18 points she scored against Florida last season in Athens.
The Lady Bulldogs will complete their two-game road trip to the Motor City with a Saturday afternoon matchup versus the Detroit Titans. Tip-off is slated for 2:30 p.m., with the game to be broadcast on the Georgia Bulldog Radio Network including 960 AM The Ref in Athens and online on GXtra (subscribers only).
