The Sports Inquirer

Release from Georgia Athletics:

Tiaria Griffin scored 14 points and freshman Mackenzie Engram added 13 but it was not enough for Georgia on Thursday night. The Lady Bulldogs dropped a 64-52 decision at LSU.

Georgia (17-9, 5-8 SEC) 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 Jan. 25 game at Tennessee and will not return this season. Donald sprained her ankle in last Thursday’s game against Florida, while Hempe missed her second straight outing due to illness.

The Lady Bulldogs started a four-guard lineup for the first time this season.

“I was impressed with a team that was essentially only a week old,” head coach Andy Landers said. “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.”

LSU guards Raigyne Moncrief and Danielle Ballard did much of the damage with double-double outings. Moncrief finished with 16 points and 10 boards, while Ballard added 13 points and 12 rebounds.

“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.

LSU pushed its edge to double-digits at 19-9 at the 11:31 mark before Engram and Erika Ford combined to score eight unanswered for Georgia over a stretch of 3:13 to close the gap to a bucket.

Jenna Deemer ended the surge with a 3-pointer and the Lady Tigers eventually entered the locker room with a six-point, 34-28 lead at the intermission.

Engram scored and was fouled with 18:37 left in the game to make it 36-32. She missed her free throw but Ford grabbed an offensive board. After Griffin missed a jumper, LSU responded with a bucket from Rina Hill that pushed the lead to six and Georgia got no closer the rest of the way.