The Sports Inquirer

Release from Georgia Athletics:

The No. 14 Georgia Lady Bulldogs defeated Belmont 62-43 on Monday night in Stegeman Coliseum, giving them their 12th win of the season to remain undefeated. This ties Georgia’s fifth-best start in program history.

Shacobia Barbee’s led the team in scoring for the sixth time this season with 13 points and eight rebounds. Tiaria Griffin tallied 11 points for her eighth double-digit outing of the year.

After a slow start by both teams, the Lady Bulldogs developed a six-point lead shortly into the opening stanza. But the Bruins responded with three consecutive shots from 3-point range, two coming from Jordyn Luffman-Hartsfield. Although Belmont held a 17-12 advantage with 8:39 to play in the first half, a defensive effort by Georgia kept the Bruins away from the net for more than four minutes. The Lady Bulldogs were able to close the scoring gap in the final minutes, trailing only 21-19 at the half.

Georgia opened the second half on a 10-2 run to regain the lead, one it would not lose for the remainder of the game. Belmont continued to fight, drawing within three points halfway through the period. But back-to-back scores from Marjorie Butler ignited a 13-0 scoring run for Georgia.

The Lady Bulldogs used consecutive steals from Barbee and Griffin to remain in control and outscore the Bruins 16-9 in the final five minutes of the game. Terryuana Godwin closed the scoring with a 3-pointer at the 13-second mark, sealing the Georgia win.

“I think it’s a testament to the resolve of this basketball team,” head coach Andy Landers said. “There have been a few games this year where we’ve gotten behind, and some of those games we haven’t played particularly well offensively. But defensively, we stayed the course. We had to slow it down a little bit, be patient and then we did a really nice job of executing.”

On the night, Georgia earned 21 points from beyond the 3-point line, shooting 40 percent to Belmont’s 14 percent. The Lady Bulldogs also outrebounded the Bruins, grabbing 37 boards over their 33, and recorded 12 second-chance points to their four. Georgia converted 24 Belmont turnovers into 27 points, while the Bruins earned 16 points off 14 Bulldog miscues.