Photo Credit: Jim Brown-USA TODAY Sports

The No. 11 Georgia Lady Bulldogs held off a late rally by Vanderbilt and closed the regular season with a 55-50 victory over the Commodores on Sunday afternoon at Stegeman Coliseum.

Georgia (24-5, 12-4 SEC) was led by senior Jasmine Hassell, who scored 16 points and pulled down six rebounds in her final game at Stegeman. Classmate Jasmine James put up 10 points and dished out a game-high five assists. Krista Donald tied Hassell for team-high rebounding honors with six boards. Shacobia Barbee contributed nine points and a game-high four steals.

Vanderbilt (19-10, 9-7 SEC) was led by Jasmine Lister and Tiffany Clarke, who scored 17 and 13 points, respectively.

“We played well today,” said head coach Andy Landers. “We just did what we needed to do today. I thought we showed an awful lot of terrific discipline, both defensively and offensively. We stayed on the floor, we stayed between them and the bucket, we avoided screens, we didn’t give up three-pointers and we did what we needed to do. Everything that we had talked about doing, we came out and did, and it was a beautiful thing.”

Vanderbilt took an early lead off a pair of free throws and eventually stretched their advantage to 8-4 three minutes into the game. Tiaria Griffin connected from behind the arc to spark a 7-2 Georgia spurt that gave the Lady Bulldogs their first lead of the game, 11-10. With just under 13 minutes on the clock, the Commodores tied the game at 13-13. Georgia then embarked on a 12-2 run and never looked back. The surge resulted in a 25-15 Georgia lead with less than five minutes remaining in the period. The final minutes of the first half were fairly well-matched, and Georgia entered the break with a 27-18 lead. The Lady Bulldogs were bolstered in the first half by Hassell’s 12 points.

Vanderbilt matched Georgia basket-for-basket during the first 11 minutes of the second period. The most consecutive points scored by either team in the first 11 minutes came in the two-minute stretch leading up to the 15 minute mark. The Commodores connected on back-to-back jumpers before the Lady Bulldogs answered with a layup and a trey to bring the score to 38-26 and give Georgia its largest lead of the game to that point. With 10:25 left on the clock, the Commodores started to rally, scoring five unanswered and pulling within 42-37, the closest they had been since midway through the first half.

Erika Ford scored on back-to-back possessions to halt the Vanderbilt run and put Georgia back up 46-37. A Vanderbilt free throw interrupted the Lady Bulldogs, but it didn’t stop their momentum. Georgia eventually stretched its lead to 50-38 with under four minutes left in the contest. Vanderbilt’s Jasmine Lister scored a quick four points around the one minute mark, allowing the Commodores to pull within 52-46. With 30 seconds on the clock, Anne Marie Armstrong was unable to connect from the free throw line, giving Vanderbilt the ball again. A jumper by Morgan Batey led to the Commodores to further dig into the Lady Bulldogs’ lead, 52-48. A full-court, in-bounds pass from Armstrong to James put Georgia back up by six. The Commodores refused to give up and hit another jumper with 12 seconds remaining and pulled within four once again. A Vanderbilt foul put Barbee at the line with six ticks on the clock, where she connected on the first of two free throws, pushing the score to 55-50 and clinching the win for the Lady Bulldogs.

Georgia will return to action at the SEC Tournament March 6-10 at Gwinnett Arena in Duluth, Georgia. The Lady Bulldogs will be either the No. 2 or No. 3 seed.

Follow Danny Bishop on Twitter @DBishop101

Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Photo Credit: Crystal LoGiudice-USA TODAY Sports

Vanderbilt’s Kevin Bright hit a baseline jumper with just 0.8 seconds remaining to cap off a 17-point comeback, beating Georgia 63-62 Wednesday night at Memorial Gym in Nashville, Tennessee.

Georgia (13-15, 7-8) was led by sophomore Kentavious Caldwell-Pope who had 20 points and 14 rebounds—his fifth double-double of the season.

“It was a difficult loss,” said head coach Mark Fox. “We were in position to win the game and that was just a terrible break for Kentavious to have that ball go out of bounds because he knows he’s going to get fouled and go to the line and then we’re in really good shape, and that’s just a terrible break for him. Give Vanderbilt’s Kevin Bright credit for hitting that shot at the end.

“I thought our defense was good. They missed some shots, but our defense was really good in the first half and we were so poised offensively. I thought we played pretty disciplined basketball in the first half. Their defense was much better in the second half and you have to give them credit for that.”

After Georgia led by as many 17 points early in the second half, Vanderbilt (12-15, 6-9) went on a 16-0 run, capitalizing on six straight empty possessions from Georgia, to take a 52-47 lead with five minutes left. Caldwell-Pope responded with six points in the final three minutes to tie the game at 60-60. After taking a late 62-61 lead, a Georgia turnover gave the ball back to the Commodores, who capitalized, hitting the game-winning shot with under a second left.

Georgia dominated the first half, taking a 34-22 point lead into the halftime break, largely behind Caldwell-Pope’s 10 points and 11 rebounds. The Bulldogs dominated the glass in the first frame, out rebounding the Commodores 23-to-9. On defense, Georgia held Vanderbilt to just 25 percent shooting in the first half.

In the second half, Vanderbilt out rebounded Georgia, and shot nearly 50 percent from the field. They were led by Kedren Johnson who scored 17 points.

Georgia returns to action against Tennessee on Saturday in Athens. The game will tip-off at 1:45 p.m. and will be televised nationally on the SEC Network.

Worth Noting…

• The starting line-up was Caldwell-Pope, D. Williams, V. Williams, Morris and Florveus. They’re now 6-4.

• With his 10 points and 11 rebounds in the first half (20 points, 14 rebounds in the game), Kentavious Caldwell-Pope picked up his fifth double-double of the season.

• Caldwell-Pope remains one of just 11 players in all of NCAA Division I that have scored in double figures in each of their team’s games. He’s the only SEC player to accomplish this feat and one of just five from the “BCS” leagues to do so.

• Georgia is now 0-5 in games decided by four points or less, and 1-7 when Caldwell-Pope is the only double-figure scorer.

Career Highs:

• Kentavious Caldwell-Pope had a career-high 14 rebounds (previously 13 vs. Ga. Tech in 2012). His 14 rebounds are the most of any Bulldog in a game this season.

The Series: Vanderbilt improves to 87-49 in the all-time series, including 52-13 in Nashville. The Commodores have won seven straight in the series.

Next Up: Georgia returns to Stegeman Coliseum to face Tennessee on Saturday. Georgia trails in the all-time series against the Volunteers 92-57, but leads when the series is played in Athens, 38-30. The Bulldogs won at Tennessee earlier this month 68-62—the last loss for Tennessee. Georgia will be going for its first season sweep of Tennessee since the 2000-01 season.

Follow Danny Bishop On Twitter @DBishop101