The No. 7 Georgia Lady Bulldogs had a tremendous opportunity to advance in the NCAA Tournament on Saturday afternoon vs. the No. 10 Virginia Cavaliers, but it was just not meant to be. After a slow start to the game, Georgia dominated right before halftime before slowly letting Virginia back into it. UVA would force overtime on UGA before going on to win rather easily in the additional frame, 82-73.
The Lady Bulldogs entered play as the slight 2.5-point favorite, but can only blame themselves for not getting it done in their first-round game. Although Mia Woolfolk and Rylie Theuerkauf more than held their own on offense with 27 and 22 points respectively, Georgia lost to Virginia in the end because it got nothing from its bench. It contributed to Georgia getting outscored 11-2 in the overtime period.
While Savannah Henderson, Dani Carnegie, and Trinity Turner were all able to contribute to the ledger on Saturday afternoon, they only combined to give 24 points from the rest of their starting five. Clearly, head coach Katie Abrahamson-Henderson not allocating minutes to her bench proved costly. She only gave a combined 19 minutes to any other player who was not part of her starting lineup.
As the game went along, it became obvious Georgia ran out of gas, while Virginia hit another gear.
Georgia Lady Bulldogs' season ends as frustrating at the men's one did
There is no way around it. This was a no good, very bad week for Georgia basketball across the board. Mike White's team got thoroughly embarrassed by Saint Louis in their first-round game. He did not have his team even remotely close to being prepared. That is not to say Abrahamson-Henderson did not have her team ready to go, but UVA was able to take care of business vs. a non-existent rotation.
The fact both the Dawgs and the Lady Bulldogs were favored to win their respective first-round games as the higher-seeded teams does not make this feel any better. We know this school's heartbeat comes from its football program. That being said, being able to do anything in March on the hardwood should not be taken for granted. All of that hard work seems to have gone for naught.
The weird part in all this when comparing Abrahamson-Henderson's team to that of White's is one runs a deep rotation, while the other seemingly does not implement one. Josh Brooks needs to get both of his subordinates in a room and have them pick their respective brains. Clearly, there are things that could be learned from each of them for the betterment of Georgia basketball overall.
Now that basketball season is sadly over with, let's fully turn our attention to baseball and softball.