University of Georgia Athletics
Dog Notes: A Lesson In Sharing
December 08, 2015 | Women's Basketball
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By John Frierson
UGAAA Staff Writer
Dressed in colorful T-shirts, waving pom-poms (or wearing them on their heads) and chanting or screaming at every opportunity, thousands of local children brought Stegeman Coliseum to life Tuesday.
It was Elementary School Day at the Georgia women's basketball team's mid-day game against Furman, a 77-39 Lady Bulldogs win, and a wonderful lesson for the children was demonstrated. Sharing, it was shown over and over again, is a good thing.
Georgia (9-1) ended the day with 21 assists on 33 field goals, but the sharing on display went far beyond the one pass that led to a made basket. There were possessions when four, five and six passes were made, working the ball all over the court, in an effort to find the right shooter in the right situation.
Open looks at the basket were being passed up to get the ball to someone with an even better look.
"I think we did move the ball really well tonight," said guard Shacobia Barbee, who finished with 17 points, four assists, three steals and two blocks. "To get their zone to move how we wanted it to move, that's what we had to do."
Furman's zone may have prompted some of the extra passes, but the nature of this team is to be "unselfish," coach Joni Taylor said. Georgia passes very well in transition, often quickly feeding the ball ahead on a breakaway, and in the halfcourt can move the ball like a game of hot potato, as it did Tuesday.
"We have a tendency when teams zone us to just stand and freeze up a little bit. I think you saw that against Mercer," Taylor said, referring to Georgia's not-so-pretty 57-44 win on Dec. 2. "I thought they did much better today of moving and passing the ball, and playing with each other."
It was guard Tiaria Griffin that was often the beneficiary of all those extra passes, which led to open 3-pointers. Griffin finished with 10 points, one of four Lady Dogs in double figures.
Georgia, which has won eight straight, is a team that is coming together and playing better as a group, said forward Mackenzie Engram, who had 14 points and eight rebounds.
"I think we're just growing every game with learning how to share the ball with each other a lot better," Engram said. "That's not something that we said, pass the ball five or six times; obviously we want the shot if we have it, but I think as a team we're just trying to work on getting everyone involved.
It was still a competitive game when the ball movement was maybe at its finest. Georgia led 26-23 late in the second quarter when Griffin rebounded her own missed 3-pointer. She fed the ball to guard Majorie Butler, who passed it to Barbee, who fed it into the paint to forward Merritt Hempe, who pass back out to Butler at the top of the key. And it was Butler that got the assist by passing it to Griffin on the left win for the open 3.
"Most importantly, I think we're growing together," said Engram, who a few moments after Griffin was the beneficiary of some around-the-world ball movement and hit a 3. "Last year I think we grew individually, but this year we're growing together and really becoming a true team."
Second-half Shutdown
Georgia led 32-25 at the half and was never seriously threatened by the Paladins (5-4) in the first 20 minutes. The second half couldn't have been much more dominant, especially a 27-3 scoring advantage in the fourth quarter.
The Lady Dogs held Furman to 14 second-half points, giving Georgia back to back shutdown second halves. In Sunday's win over No. 21 Seton Hall, the Lady Dogs held the Pirates to just 19 points.
"We're trying to be a good team. I'm not going to say we're there yet, but good teams handle success and good teams mentally prepare," Taylor said. "We came out a little flat in the first quarter, but then we stepped it up and had great third and fourth quarters."
What's Next
This was Georgia's sixth game since Nov. 27 and the Lady Dogs haven't had much of a break for a while. Now they'll get one. Georgia doesn't play again until it visits Wright State on Dec. 20.
John Frierson is the staff writer for the UGA Athletic Association and curator of the ITA Men's Tennis Hall of Fame. You can find his work at: Frierson Files. He's also on Twitter: @FriersonFiles and @ITAHallofFame.
