ATHENS — Jasmine James scored 17 points and No. 15 Georgia dominated from the opening tip in an 85-48 victory over South Carolina State on Wednesday night.

Georgia (6-1) scored the first 16 points of the game in the initial 7 minutes and never looked back.
Jasmine Hassell added 12 points for the Lady Dogs, earning praise from coach Andy Landers.

"Hassell played great," Landers said. "She only made three field goals, but that is deceptive because she got fouled on some other shots that would have gone in. She played strong and aggressive. They played aggressive. There was a lot of contact, but it did not faze her at all."

"I did have a size advantage," said the 6-foot-2 Hassell, "but I still had to work for the ball."

The Lady Dogs made four 3-pointers in the early going, including two by Khaalidah Miller, who scored 11.

Tiara Knotts and Tracey Flowers led South Carolina State (2-3) with 10 points apiece.

Despite the lop-sided margin, Landers said that Georgia has much yet to work on.

"We leave so many points on the table," he said. "We miss easy shots. I know we missed two fast-break layups, and we had one post who missed three or four chips."

Georgia's biggest lead of the first half came when James went coast-to-coast on a layup to put the Lady Dogs up 29-10 with 7:44 remaining. James had 11 points as Georgia took a 40-29 lead into halftime.

The Lady Dogs put together a 24-3 run in the second half to go up 68-38 with 7:55 to go. The biggest lead of the game was 74-40 on free throws by Erika Ford with 5:22 left.

"We did a really good job in the second half," James said. "We changed from the 2-3 zone and played more man-to-man. We hang our hat on our man defense."

The 5-9 James shared the team-high of five rebounds.

"We need to continue to work on rebounding," James said. "It is something coach stresses in practice every day."

James averages 5.6 rebounds per game, just barely behind Hassell and 6-3 Anne Marie Armstrong.

"Every time a shot goes up, I try to sneak in," said James of her rebounding philosophy. "Really, many guards are not looking for me to get in there. It is constantly on my mind because coach talks about it so much."

The biggest lead of the game was 74-40 after free throws by Ford with 5:22 remaining. The freshman started her second straight game and finished with 10 points.

"Erika is aggressive," Landers said. "She fights to get to the boards. She was not coming up short for lack of effort. She is quick, and she is aggressive.

"What I like about her, is that she is consistent. She is same way in practice."