University of Georgia Athletics
University of Georgia
South Carolina
UGA Opens SEC Play With 61-51 Win Over South Carolina
January 02, 2011 | Women's Basketball
Jan. 2, 2011
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ATHENS, Ga. --- The Georgia women's basketball team kicked off Southeastern Conference play Sunday afternoon with a 61-51 win over South Carolina in Stegeman Coliseum. The Lady Bulldogs were paced by 15 points from freshman Khaalidah Miller while junior Meredith Mitchell added 12 off the bench.
The Lady Dogs improve to 11-3 (1-0) with the win as South Carolina falls to 8-6 (0-1).
"We have to play 40 minutes like we played the first 20 minutes," said head coach Andy Landers of South Carolina's second-half run. "We have to get more minutes of solid play. You can't be as inconsistent in a 40-minute game as we were today and still expect to get the win."
After the Gamecocks' Ashley Bruner converted on a layup with 11:22 to go in the first half to tie the score at 12, Georgia embarked on an 11-0 run over the next four minutes, then took an 18-point lead on a three from sophomore Anne Marie Armstrong, leading 35-17 with 53 seconds left in the opening period.
Tamika Willis made a layup and Miller sank a three with just three seconds left, giving Georgia a commanding 23-point lead, 40-17, entering the locker room.
The Lady Bulldogs shot 58 percent from the floor through the first 20:00, including perfect 4-of-4 shooting from Miller from three. South Carolina was held without a field goal for the final 11:22 of the first after the Bruner lay-up.
But South Carolina opened the second half strong, posting an 11-0 run early to cut the Georgia lead to 12, 42-30, with 13:38 to go. The Gamecocks would pull to within single digits at nine with 11:36 left, and were within just six points, 48-42, following a pair of Marah Strickland free throws with 7:36 to play.
Another three from Miller - her fifth of the game - put the Lady Dogs back up by double digits at 55-45 with 5:44 to go, and Georgia scored six of the next seven points to take a 15-point lead at 61-46 with 2:56 remaining on a layup for Jasmine Hassell. The Gamecocks closed it to 10 on a pair of late free throws, making it 61-51 in the 2010-11 SEC opener for both teams.
The 15-point effort marked Miller's third straight double-digit scoring effort, as the rookie ended 5-for-6 from downtown and added three assists, a steal and a block on the day. Mitchell added her 12 points to go along with eight rebounds and Porsha Phillips scored 10 points and also grabbed eight boards.
USC was paced by Bruner's 16 points, while La'Keisha Sutton tallied 11.
The Lady Dogs improve to a staggering 24-5 in SEC openers since 1982-83 and are 13-1 in such contests played in Athens. Georgia is now 30-5 all-time vs. the Gamecocks. Today was the first time the Lady Dogs have opened conference play vs. South Carolina.
Georgia will next take the court on Jan. 9 when it plays a road game at Kentucky. The match-up with the 13th-ranked Wildcats will tip-off at 2 p.m. on ESPNU.
Notes
- With today's win, Georgia has amassed a 24-5 record in SEC openers since the conference began compiling women's basketball standings on an official basis.
- Georgia now owns a stellar 30-5 advantage in its all-time series with South Carolina, including a 14-2 mark in Athens.
- With today's win, the Lady Bulldogs are two wins shy of 800 all-time victories in intercollegiate play.
- With today's win, Andy Landers is now seven wins shy of his 850th career victory as a collegiate head coach.
- Today's game marked Ebony Jones' first career start.
- Porsha Phillips is now 63 points from 1,000 career points as a college basketball player.
- Porsha Phillips is now seven blocks from No. 8 Tasha Humphrey among UGA's career leaders. Phillips has 112 blocks in two-plus seasons at Georgia.
- Porsha Phillips earned double digits with 10 today, her ninth of the season and 46th of her career.
- Meredith Mitchell earned double digits with 12 today, her third of the season and 16th of her career.
- Khaalidah Miller earned double digits with 15 today, her third straight, fifth of the season and fifth of her career.
"I thought 'J.J.' was good right up to the end when she let it get away from her a little bit. She was under a lot of pressure. Meredith Mitchell was solid all day long - rebounding, handling the ball and defensively. I think those two were our two best today."
"We have to play 40 minutes like we played the first 20 minutes. We have to get more minutes of solid play. You can't be as inconsistent in a 40-minute game as we were today and still expect to get the win."
South Carolina Head Coach Dawn Staley
"We just had major lapses defensively, but we identified them at halftime and we tried to come out and play with some energy and urgency in the second half. We did a great job of fighting back but down the stretch we had some costly turnovers that just put the game out of reach."
"I just wanted us to play our type of basketball. I don't know the team that showed up in the first half, that isn't us. We just had a lot of missed shots and missed assignments. We turned the ball over more than we would like and we just looked really discombobulated, and when that happens you aren't going beat a team like Georgia. The way we played in that first half was completely out of the blue. We just had a total break down because we weren't hitting any shots."
"Ashley Bruner came to play. She is a real gamer, and when she gets serious about this kind of basketball then she will be able to help out our team a lot more, but we expect to see this type of play out of her more often in the future."
