Georgia Lady Bulldogs Swamped by Injuries and LSU
The Georgia Lady Bulldogs lost their six straight game since losing leading scorer and rebounder Shacobia Barbee to injury.
More from Georgia Basketball
- Georgia Lady Bulldogs all-time round-by-round record in NCAA Women’s Tournament
- March Madness schedule: When do the Georgia Lady Bulldogs play next?
- Georgia basketball may have lost SEC tourney opener, but optimism for future remains
- Georgia basketball: One quick thing about the SEC Tournament
- Is Georgia basketball gonna make it to March Madness?
Head coach Andy Landers resorted to rebuilding the Georgia Lady Bulldogs before traveling to Baton Rouge, but the new four guard lineup could not bring home a win against LSU. Georgia dropped to 17-9, 5-8 in the SEC with the 64-52 loss to the Tigers.
“I was impressed with a team that was essentially only a week old,” head coach Andy Landers told Georgiadogs.com. “For us to be able to put a four-guard team together and throw some offense together that could work and for them to be able to go out and execute like they did, that part I was pleased with.”
Tiaria Griffin scored 14 points and freshman Mackenzie Engram added 13 but it was not enough.
Georgia played without 60 percent of its starting lineup from a month ago, with guard Shacobia Barbee and forwards Krista Donald and Merritt Hempe all out of action. Barbee suffered a fractured fibula in a January 25 game at Tennessee. The Lady Dawgs have not won since. Donald sprained her ankle in last Thursday’s game against Florida, while Hempe missed her second straight outing due to illness.
“In the second half, we didn’t get to some loose balls and we got punked a little bit on rebounds,” Landers said. “Those guards, make no mistake about it, Ballard and Moncrief, this is not their first rodeo when it comes to rebounding the ball.”
After trailing by six points at halftime, Georgia pulled within 36-32 early in the second half and had possession with the chance to pull closer. LSU then scored a dozen straight points to gain its largest lead of the day at 48-32 with 10:01 left in the contest. Georgia narrowed the gap to seven points on two occasions in the closing minutes but could get no closer.
Back-to-back 3-pointers from Pachis Roberts and Griffin on Georgia’s first two shot attempts of the game staked the Lady Bulldogs to an early 6-2 lead. LSU answered in kind with a 10-0 surge that featured a pair of 3-pointers from DaShawn Harden.before traveling to Baton Rouge, but the new four guard lineup could not bring home a win against LSU. Georgia dropped to 17-9, 5-8 in the SEC with the 64-52 loss to the Tigers.