Lady Dawgs Win Lobos’ Tournament

BASKETBALL

Jasmine James scored 17 points, grabbed six steals and dished out five assists to lead No. 8 Georgia to a 72-42 victory over New Mexico in the championship game of the Lobos' Thanksgiving Tournament before 6,509 at The Pit on Saturday evening.

James was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player and was joined on the all-tournament team by Jasmine Hassell, who scored 15 points on 7-of-11 shooting from the floor. Anne Marie Armstrong, Merritt Hempe and Khaalidah Miller all chipped in eight points, while Hempe secured a game-high nine rebounds.

"The entire team played very, very well, but I'm so happy for Jasmine James," coach Andy Landers said. "This is a kid who's been hurt, beat up, overplayed the past few years. Now, in her senior year she has the luxury of playing well and playing with people who play with her."

Hassell spotted Georgia (7-0) with a quick lead with consecutive buckets before New Mexico (5-1) tied the score at 4-4 41 seconds later. A steal and layup by Shacobia Barbee ignited a 10-0 Lady Dawg run over the next 4:21.

Georgia's defense turned into offense throughout the opening period as seven steals resulted in easy buckets on the other end.

The lead reached 20 points at 34-14 on a Hassell bucket with 3:09 remaining in the period. The Lady Dawgs equaled their largest advantage of the period when a three-point play by Merritt Hempe with three-tenths of a second on the clock made it 40-17. Georgia shot 50 percent from the field in the half and built a 23-point lead despite not hitting a 3-point basket in the period. The Lady Dawgs dished out seven assists to just two turnovers and scored as may points off turnovers (17) as the Lobos did overall.

"We were pretty good defensively," Landers said. "This is a really good offensive team. They shoot the ball 30 or 40 percent from the three. For us to come out and handcuff them was impressive."

Tiaria Griffin hit a three to open the second-half scoring and the Lady Dawgs scored the first nine points of the half to go up 49-17 before Bryce Owens hit a three for the Lobos with 15:00 left

James scored nine points during the opening stanza and in the process climbed from No. 29 to No. 26 among the Lady Dawgs' career scoring leaders. James moved past Pam Irwin-Osbolt, Carla Green and Cynthia Collins.

Georgia will return to action on Wednesday when the Lady Dawgs host Furman (3-1) at 7 p.m. at Stegeman Coliseum.

Single-game reserved seat tickets for Lady Dawg home games are $5 for adults and $3 for children. Both season and single-game tickets are available via georgiadogs.com, by calling the UGA Ticket Office at 877-542-1621 or at the Butts-Mehre Ticket Office from 8:30-4:30 on weekdays. In addition, tickets go on sale at Stegeman Coliseum box office (closest to Sanford Drive) beginning 60 minutes before tip-off of all home games.