AMES, Iowa — Night and day.
Georgia had 15 days between its crushing conference tournament loss to Alabama and its NCAA Tournament-opening game with Dayton. The time away to rest, recover and focus paid dividends. The Lady Bulldogs walked onto the floor at Hilton Coliseum looking like a vastly-different team Friday night.
They had defensive intensity, offensive flow and the joy of playing successful basketball percolated through Georgia’s bench and the 10 players who saw a majority of the minutes. Georgia (21-9), using a cushion it built in the first half, topped Dayton 70-54 to advance to Sunday’s second round against Iowa State.
“We tried to take away what they do well — which is shoot the 3-ball,” Georgia head coach Joni Taylor said. “We were aggressive (and did a good job) rebounding the ball. I’m extremely proud of everybody who played tonight. Survive and advance.”
Georgia advances past the first round of the tournament in consecutive years. Taylor has advanced in three of four NCAA Tournament appearances through her seven-year tenure.
Georgia’s show of resolve repeated itself on numerous occasions, but none more than on an opening possession to start the second quarter. The Lady Bulldogs had five offensive rebounds before it eventually led to a pair of free-throw makes by Malury Bates. Georgia, at one point, had 11 offensive rebounds as opposed to Dayton’s total of 13 rebounds.
Georgia also had 30 free-throw attempts, compared to only four for Dayton.
“It doesn’t show up in the stats sheet in terms of points,” Taylor said. “Their ability to get in there and rebound the ball, get their hands on balls, put pressure on Dayton by going into offensive rebounds, it just wears you out.”
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
The Lady Bulldogs held a double-digit lead through a majority of the game. Dayton had some intermittent runs, but Georgia always had the answer. Georgia had three double-digit scorers, led by Jenna Staiti’s 17 points.
Fifth-year veteran Que Morrison also recorded 16 points, eight assists and seven rebounds for the Lady Bulldogs.
“I just think that’s what makes our team so dangerous,” Staiti said. “It can be anybody’s night, and when everybody steps up like that, it’s dangerous. I’m super proud of everyone who came and showed up tonight.”
Georgia did most of its work inside the paint. Dayton’s Tenin Magassa, who had seven blocks in the team’s First Four rout of DePaul, didn’t play after suffering a lingering shoulder injury. Georgia took advantage with 30 points in the paint and a rebounding advantage that continued to build.
One of the major differences in the Lady Bulldogs’ resurgence was the return of freshman and McDonald’s All-American Jillian Hollingshead. She had missed a significant chunk of conference play with mononucleosis and a chronic knee injury which involved repetitive bouts of swelling. Hollingshead had been a major factor in non-conference play, and Taylor showed excitement to get a 6-foot-5 player who is a three-level scorer back onto the floor after not being a significant part of the team’s plans for nearly two months.
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
Hollingshead scored 15 points in only 15 minutes of action. She is the first freshman to have a breakout tournament game since Caliya Robinson scored 14 in 2016 against Indiana. Shacobia Barbee still holds the best mark with 20 points against Iowa State in 2013.
“(After) missing a lot of games in the conference, coming out today just felt really good,” Hollingshead said. “Really good to be back.”
Georgia had the makings of the team that beat power programs N.C. State and Notre Dame. At least for one night, it put the SEC struggles aside. Before the tournament, Taylor and Staiti reiterated that Georgia entered a new season with a clean slate. Its loss to Alabama, along with the late-season falters against Auburn and Florida, served as motivation.
Those comments proved to ring true, and the Lady Bulldogs may be primed for a run.
“All the work that we put in the past couple weeks, it showed up,” Staiti said. “You can tell by everybody that was on the floor tonight that we flipped a switch.”
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
The final sequence that cemented Georgia’s victory came at the end of the third quarter. Dayton had a chance to trim the deficit to six points, but Georgia ran efficient man-to-man defense and Morrison found Chloe Chapman streaking towards the basket to regain a double-digit advantage.
As the final buzzer blared, Georgia walked away with a convincing statement. The run that a veteran team dreamed of may have begun.
“We have to be locked in,” Taylor said. “That’s what it is. It’s a quick turnaround. This is where you lean on your leadership and your numbers and rely that everybody is going to be locked in and focused.”
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