Lady Dawgs Defeat Gators

BASKETBALL

Jasmine Hassell led a trio of double-digit scorers as the No. 14 Georgia Lady Dawgs cruised past the Florida Gators, 69-52, on Sunday afternoon at Stegeman Coliseum.

Hassell notched 13 points, Tiaria Griffin tallied 12 points and Krista Donald recorded a season-high 11. Shacobia Barbee led the Lady Dawgs on the boards, pulling down a game-high 11 rebounds and tying her season high.

"I thought everything today started with our defense," said coach Andy Landers. "We were very good defensively, but especially early on in the game. We also rebounded the ball well, and those two things resulted in possessions. Many of those possessions were transition possessions, so that was good to see. One of the things that we wanted to do today was to get the ball up and down the floor. We did that early, and that helped to create the lead."

Georgia (17-3, 5-2 SEC) took control early by scoring the first points of the contest with less than a minute off the clock. Florida matched the Lady Dawgs for the first couple of baskets, but failed to take the lead before a Hassell layup ignited a 10-0 run that put Georgia up 14-4.

Florida (13-8, 2-5 SEC) slowed Georgia with a three-pointer, but the damage was done and the Gators were unable to gain momentum. The only time in the first half that Florida connected on back-to-back possessions was with a pair of jumpers at around 11 minutes, bringing the score to 24-14.

While the Gators kept the Lady Dawgs from embarking on another double-digit surge, Georgia eventually stretched its advantage to 39-20 before halftime.

In the first half, the Lady Dawgs shot an efficient 41.7 percent from the field, while holding Florida to 30 percent. Georgia also out rebounded the Gators 27-18 and used those rebounds to score 16 second chance points, compared to just six from Florida.

The first four minutes of the second period were fairly well matched, as neither team was able to take control until a trey by Merritt Hempe started a 17-2 run that lasted over eight and a half minutes and gave Georgia its largest lead of the game at 64-33.

The Gators were productive in the final seven minutes of the game, cutting Georgia's lead to 69-52, but it was too late to make a difference.

The Lady Dawgs finished the game shooting 43.1 percent from the field and 71.4 percent from the charity stripe. After a couple of narrow wins and last week's loss, this was the most productive game offensively for Georgia since its 95-83 victory over Alabama on Jan. 10.

Georgia will return to action on Thursday, when it hosts Alabama at 7:00 p.m.

Notes

• With tonight’s 69-52 victory over Florida, UGA improves its record against UF to 47-14, including a 26-3 record in Athens.

• The home team has won each of the last nine meetings between UGA and UF.

• Georgia held Florida to 20 points in the first half, this was the lowest first half scoring total by an SEC opponent this season.

• Andy Landers is now six wins shy of his 900th career victory.

• Jasmine James’ two steals tonight puts her one steal behind No. 8 Carla Green among UGA’s career steal leaders

• Jasmine Hassell’s 13-point performance lands her as No. 25 among UGA’s career scoring leaders, she is five points shy of No. 24 Angel Robinson.

• Khaalidah Miller’s two 3FGAs tonight places her one shy of No. 5 Kelly Miller among UGA’s 3FGA leaders.

Lady Dawgs In Double Digits

• Jasmine Hassell tallied 13 points, her 13th double-digit performance this season and 56th of her career.

• Tiaria Griffin scored 12 points, her sixth double-digit performance this season and sixth of her career.

• Krista Donald notched a season-high 11 points, her first double-digit performance this season and fifth of her career.

• Shacobia Barbee collected 11 rebounds, her second double-digit performance this season and second of her career.