University of Georgia Athletics
University of Georgia
LSU
Lady Bulldogs Fall 53-46 To LSU
January 24, 2016 | Women's Basketball
This video features brief interviews with Coach Joni Taylor and Merritt Hempe.
Notes | Quotes | Final Stats | Photo Gallery
Women's Basketball Reunion Coverage
| LSU | TEAM | Georgia |
| 53 | SCORE | 46 |
| 37.3% | FG% | 37.8% |
| 23.5% | 3FG% | 25.0% |
| 60.9% | FT% | 72.7% |
| 38 | REB | 28 |
| 9 | ASST | 6 |
| 22 | TO | 25 |
| 3 | BLK | 0 |
| 12 | STL | 8 |
ATHENS, Ga. --- It was a tough day on the boards for the Lady Bulldogs, as Georgia (14-6, 2-5) fell to LSU (8-12, 2-5) 53-46 on Sunday in Stegeman Coliseum.
"I felt as if we had a really good two days of practice," said head coach Joni Taylor. "We are a team that freezes when we see a zone. We didn't come out with any energy, we didn't do anything defensively, and we didn't get enough offensive rebounds. When you are shooting the ball poorly, like we have the tendency of doing especially against zone, you have to create your own momentum, grab the offensive rebounds and use the defense to force turnovers. We didn't do that today."
LSU used the rebounding game to its advantage, as it took down 38 boards to Georgia's 28, including 18 on the offensive end.
Seniors Tiaria Griffin and Shacobia Barbee paced the Lady Bulldogs, as Griffin had 13 points with two three-pointers and Barbee followed with 12 points and a team-best seven rebounds. Fellow classmate Merritt Hempe along with junior Pachis Roberts had eight points and six rebounds apiece.
Georgia once again held an opponent to under 40 percent shooting, as the team has done so in 19 of 20 games this season. LSU provided a balanced attack, though, led by Rina Hill's 14 points to go with three others hitting double digits.
LSU climbed ahead 15-8 after one quarter of action, building its lead of off 44 percent shooting and making five of its first seven shots. After being held scoreless in the opening four minutes, Georgia went 3-for-3 and held the Tiger offense to two field goals in their last nine shot attempts to put itself back in the game. With stout defensive play in the second quarter from both squads, LSU held a 21-15 advantage at the half.
The Lady Bulldogs opened the second half on a 6-2 run, allowing a Barbee jumper to have Georgia down by two at 23-21. A heads-up steal by senior Marjorie Butler followed by an and-1 from Barbee gave Georgia its first lead of the game at 24-23 with four minutes to go. However, LSU quickly took back the momentum, scoring four points in the final 30 seconds to lead 31-25 at the end of the third.
LSU opened its lead to as much as eight to start the fourth, leading 33-25. Georgia closed the gap to four with back-to-back baskets from Roberts and Griffin, but couldn't capitalize on LSU's three turnover in less than two minutes. A 7-0 run by the Tigers extended the advantage to 42-31, as LSU would go on to win 53-46.
Georgia returns to the court on Jan. 28 to take on Auburn in Stegeman Coliseum. The game is set to air on SEC Network with a 7 p.m. ET start time.
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