ATHENS— Porsha Phillips posted a double-double of 18 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Georgia Lady Bulldogs to a 69-57 win over Mississippi State before 5,965 fans at Stegeman Coliseum on Sunday afternoon.
Christy Marshall and Angel Robinson added 13 points for Georgia (15-7, 5-2 SEC), while Alexis Rack scored 18 points to lead Mississippi State (16-6, 3-4 SEC).
Phillips scored eight points in the game’s first 3:08 as Georgia raced to an 11-0 lead. The Lady Bulldogs eventually pushed that margin to 17 points at halftime.
Georgia appeared in command early in the second half before State put together a furious rally, largely fueled by a barrage of threes from Rack. The Lady Bulldogs led 46-29 following a Marshall jumper with 14:37 left before Mississippi State used a 12-0 run to close the gap to 46-41 at the 11:40 mark.
State continued its surge and pulled within a bucket at 48-46 on a jumper by Robin Porter. Ashley Houts’ three pointer on Georgia’s next possession thwarted the rally and then Marshall scored on an old-fashioned three-point play as the Lady Bulldogs quickly opened their advantage back to eight.
Mississippi State would get not closer the rest of the way.
Georgia connected on 21-of-22 free throw attempts in the victory, equaling the school game record for three throw percentage at 95.5. The Lady Bulldogs shot the exact same percentage against Illinois in a Round of 32 contest in the 1986 NCAA Tournament.
The Lady Bulldogs will return to action on Thursday when they travel to Knoxville to face Tennessee in an FSN South regionally televised contest set to tip at 7:00 p.m.
Georgia’s next home game is next Sunday against Arkansas at 2:30 p.m. That contest will serve as the Lady Bulldogs’ edition of “Pink Zone”, the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association’s (WBCA) global initiative to promote breast cancer awareness and research.
Christy Marshall and Angel Robinson added 13 points for Georgia (15-7, 5-2 SEC), while Alexis Rack scored 18 points to lead Mississippi State (16-6, 3-4 SEC).
Phillips scored eight points in the game’s first 3:08 as Georgia raced to an 11-0 lead. The Lady Bulldogs eventually pushed that margin to 17 points at halftime.
Georgia appeared in command early in the second half before State put together a furious rally, largely fueled by a barrage of threes from Rack. The Lady Bulldogs led 46-29 following a Marshall jumper with 14:37 left before Mississippi State used a 12-0 run to close the gap to 46-41 at the 11:40 mark.
State continued its surge and pulled within a bucket at 48-46 on a jumper by Robin Porter. Ashley Houts’ three pointer on Georgia’s next possession thwarted the rally and then Marshall scored on an old-fashioned three-point play as the Lady Bulldogs quickly opened their advantage back to eight.
Mississippi State would get not closer the rest of the way.
Georgia connected on 21-of-22 free throw attempts in the victory, equaling the school game record for three throw percentage at 95.5. The Lady Bulldogs shot the exact same percentage against Illinois in a Round of 32 contest in the 1986 NCAA Tournament.
The Lady Bulldogs will return to action on Thursday when they travel to Knoxville to face Tennessee in an FSN South regionally televised contest set to tip at 7:00 p.m.
Georgia’s next home game is next Sunday against Arkansas at 2:30 p.m. That contest will serve as the Lady Bulldogs’ edition of “Pink Zone”, the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association’s (WBCA) global initiative to promote breast cancer awareness and research.