Anne Marie Armstrong’s worth to her team was on vivid display in the last 101 seconds of Georgia’s win over Iowa State in the second round of the NCAA tournament.
The Lady Bulldogs, who led by as many as 14 points earlier in the game, had fallen behind by a point with 1:41 to play when Armstrong took matters into her own hands.
First, she stole the ball from Iowa State’s Nikki Moody. Eight seconds later, she buried a 3-point basket for a 58-56 lead. After the Cyclones reclaimed the lead with their own 3, Armstrong converted a heavily contested, reverse layup with 59 seconds to go to re-establish the lead.
When Iowa State missed a shot on the other end, Armstrong came up with the rebound and quickly got the ball out to Shacobia Barbee, who was fouled and made the game-clinching free throws.
Georgia held on for a 65-60 victory Monday to advance to the Sweet 16 for the 20th time in school history. And now that Armstrong is playing like her old self, the Lady Bulldogs (27-6) feel like they have what it takes to go further.
“She’s getting back to the old Anne Marie,” said coach Andy Landers, who will guide his team against top-seeded Stanford on Saturday night (9 p.m., ESPN). “She’s making plays and doing whatever we need her to do to help us win.”
Whether Armstrong, a senior from Norcross, would ever again make such an impact for Georgia was in question.
As a junior, Armstrong earned first-team All-SEC honors after finishing among the SEC’s top 10 in nine of 13 statistical categories, including scoring (seventh), rebounding (sixth), steals (third), assists (sixth) and blocks (seventh). But a severe ankle injury during preseason practices changed the course of her final season. Though she missed only one game, the injury impacted her play in every game. She entered the NCAA tournament averaging only 6.9 points and 4.9 rebounds per game.
“It’s been frustrating realizing that I wasn’t going to be able to what did last year,” said Armstrong, who scored 13 points against the Cyclones and has averaged 10 per game in the tournament. “As I’ve continued to rehab — I still rehab five days a week — I’ve gradually gotten better. I’ve just got to continually work on it, so I can get back to 100 percent. I’d say I’m pretty close to that now, but it still gets sore and swells up occasionally.”
The injury has robbed Armstrong of some of the athletic ability that had been her trademark. A former hitter in volleyball, the 6-foot-3 Armstrong was known for playing near the rim. Now she rarely gets far off the ground.
“I felt like before the injury I was on track to do what I did last year and be that all-around player that we need, so it has been a big step back for me,” she said. “It’s really frustrating to not be able to jump or move laterally like I did before.”
But she’s still in there scrapping for more than 25 minutes per game. And as the stakes have risen in the NCAA tournament, so has Armstrong’s threshold for pain and knack for making plays.
“That’s the Anne Marie we know,” senior Jasmine James said. “It’s great to see her back out there playing like that.”
Georgia will need everybody’s best against Stanford. The No. 4-ranked Cardinal (31-2) have steamrolled opponents to this point. Led by 6-4 junior forward Chiney Ogwumike (22.3 ppg, 13.0 rpg), they defeated Tulsa and Michigan by an average of 24.9 points to reach their 20th Sweet 16.
And things didn’t go well the last time Georgia met Stanford in this round. That was three years ago, when the Cardinal whipped the Lady Bulldogs 73-38. Armstrong was a part of that game as well, scoring eight points and pulling down four rebounds while playing 17 minutes as a freshman.
“I think this team just has this will and this determination about it,” Armstrong said. “Having a lot of seniors on the team helps. We encourage and motivate everybody on the team. J.J., Jasmine (Hassell) and I, we want to go as far as we can go and do everything in our power to do that.”
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