I am pleased to report that basketball season is not yet over for one of the Georgia Bulldogs’ NCAA Tournament teams. Mark Fox’s men’s squad fell on Friday night to the Washington Huskies, but Andy Landers’s sixth-seeded Lady Bulldogs emerged victorious from their second-round outing in the women’s bracket against the third-seeded Florida St. Seminoles by a 61-59 final margin. With Georgia trailing 59-58 in the final five seconds, Jasmine James grabbed the offensive rebound, got the tip-in for the go-ahead basket, and made the free throw that gave James her 14th point of the evening and the Lady Dogs their two-point victory.
Andy Landers, a Hall of Fame coach, avoided a typical tourney run for the Red and Black, who often have won when facing lower-seeded squads before running into trouble when coming up against a higher-placed foe in a women’s tournament that does a better job of seeding than the men’s tournament does. March usually ends for the Lady Bulldogs in a hard-fought loss to an opponent whose high caliber had been proven over the course of the regular season, but the doubters were pleasantly surprised rather than proven correct on Tuesday night in Auburn Arena, where the scoreboard (unlike the wall plaques) told no lies.
It was a remarkably even game by the numbers, as evidenced by the shooting percentages:
| Team | Field Goals | 3-Pt. Field Goals | Free Throws |
|---|---|---|---|
| Georgia | 24 of 66 (36.4%) | 8 of 19 (42.1%) | 5 of 8 (62.5%) |
| Florida State | 19 of 54 (35.2%) | 8 of 19 (42.1%) | 13 of 23 (56.5%) |
Even though the Seminoles enjoyed a 45-36 advantage on the boards, the Bulldogs outscored FSU in the paint by a 22-18 margin and turned 19 Tribe turnovers into 26 Georgia points. The Red and Black bench outscored the Florida State reserves by a 15-8 tally.
Up next for the Lady Bulldogs is a Sweet 16 date with second-seeded Texas A&M.
Go ‘Dawgs!