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Armstrong leads Georgia women past Ole Miss 61-47
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The ball goes out of bounds off the hands of Mississippi's Nikki Byrd (22) and she and Georgia's Meredith Mitchell (11) vie for a rebound during a game on Sunday in Oxford, Miss. - photo by BRUCE NEWMAN | Associated Press

OXFORD, Miss. — No. 15 Georgia got off to a quick start at Mississippi on Sunday and never looked back.

After opening the game with a 30-2 run, the Lady Bulldogs cruised to a 61-47 victory.

Georgia (16-4, 5-2 Southeastern Conference) forced 12 turnovers in the first half and took advantage of Ole Miss' 7-for-27 (25.9 percent) shooting performance from the field to build an insurmountable 43-15 halftime lead.

At one point, Ole Miss (12-8, 2-5) went nearly 12 minutes without a basket.

"I thought we were tremendously effective defensively. They seemed like they didn't have anywhere to go early in the game and so they're not scoring," Georgia coach Andy Landers said after his 789th career win. "When the other team's not scoring you can be pretty loose on offense. The defense kept us loose on offense."

Ole Miss coach Renee Ladner credited the Lady Bulldogs' early energy for their run.

"They just popped us in the mouth and rocked us back on our heels and we went 'oh no,'" she said. "It was just the aggressiveness that they played with. They were no-nonsense. They were a true No. 15 team, and I think that stunned us a little bit."

Ole Miss showed signs of life in the second half, making 33.3 percent (10 of 30) of its shots, while limiting Georgia to just 20.6 percent (7 of 34).

Georgia was led in scoring by Anne Marie Armstrong (15), Khaalidah Miller (13), Jasmine Hassell (11) and Meredith Mitchell (10).

Armstrong did more than just score for Georgia. The junior forward also recorded a career-high 11 rebounds and had a game-high four steals.

"She's a special player," Landers said. "She's in seven different categories in the Southeastern Conference leaders and she just keeps getting better. She did things out here today that you haven't seen out here this year."

Armstrong entered the game ranked in the top 17 in the SEC in scoring, rebounding, steals, blocked shots, assists, assists-to-turnovers ratio and field goal percentage.

Mitchell and Miller also had 14 and 11 rebounds, respectively.

Valencia McFarland and Tia Faleru led Ole Miss in scoring with 13 points apiece.

Faleru also had 10 rebounds to lead Ole Miss. It was the freshman forward's first career double-double.


 

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