The Lady Bulldogs are back in the Elite Eight.
Georgia defeated No. 1 seed Stanford 61-59 late Saturday night in Spokane, Wash., to advance to the Elite Eight round of the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2004. The Bulldogs (28-6) will face California (31-3) in the Spokane Regional final Monday night. Cal defeated LSU 73-63 early Sunday, sending the Bears to the round of eight for the first time in program history
The Stanford Cardinal’s season ends at 33-3.
Georgia had failed to advance in their last six appearances in the Sweet Sixteen, including a 73-36 loss to the Cardinal in 2010. This will be its 11th appearance in the regional finals under coach Andy Landers.
The teams traded leads five times before Georgia’s Jasmine Hassell hit three consecutive shots, the last of which gave the Bulldogs a 58-56 lead with 1:02 to play. After a Stanford turnover, Tiara Griffin missed a 3-point shot, but freshman Shacobia Barbee got the offensive rebound and Jasmine James was fouled with 23.5 seconds left. James made both foul shots for a four-point lead Stanford couldn’t overcome.
“I’m really pleased that our kids stayed the course,” said Landers, who won for the 905th time in his college coaching career. “It was a combination of all five players playing well but our three seniors really held us together. That’s a really neat thing when you’re down and everybody has the composure to do what you need to do to win.”
James led the Bulldogs with 16 points and 5 assists, Hassell and Griffin added 13 each, Barbee had 12 rebounds to go with nine points and Anne Marie Armstrong pulled down 10 rebounds and knocked down a game-tying 3 in the closing minutes.
Stanford was led by player of the year candidate Chiney Ogwumike, who had 26 points and 12 boards.
About the Author
