There was a stretch on Sunday when it appeared Georgia would overcome an insurmountable deficit.
The Lady Bulldogs chopped Tennessee’s 28-point lead to two possessions with just over a minute left, but the Lady Volunteers held on for an 85-70 victory to send Georgia to its third loss in four games.
“I felt like we could have won the game,” Georgia’s Tiaria Griffin said. “We broke down executing plays a lot. That hurt us.”
Georgia began the season 11-0, but the 19th-ranked Lady Bulldogs (12-3) lost to Rutgers on Dec. 21 and are 0-2 in the SEC for the first time in 21 years. They lost to Vanderbilt on Thursday before Sunday’s defeat.
They are now in danger is dropping out of the Top 25.
“It is what it is, but it’s only two games,” coach Andy Landers said. “It doesn’t feel good and I don’t like it. It’s a long time until the first of March.”
Fifth-ranked Tennessee (12-2, 1-1) continued its dominance of the Lady Bulldogs, who haven’t defeated UT since 2010. The Lady Volunteers are 24-3 in the past 27 games against Georgia dating to 1998, but had to survive a determined late rally for the last win.
Tennessee built a 67-39 lead with 11:45 remaining when the Lady Bulldogs began to slowly chip away. They still trailed by 22 when Georgia scored 16 unanswered points to cut the deficit to 76-70 with 1:12 left.
Krista Donald, who led Georgia with 18 points, scored eight and Khaalidah Miller and Griffin, who added 15 points, hit consecutive 3-pointers before Merritt Hempe’s two free throws capped a 31-9 run.
“Once we realized we’re down, we (said we) needed to really pick this up,” Hempe said. “We have five that were going and five that were pushing and pressing and stealing and I think that’s what got us going.”
The rally stopped there, however.
Tennessee scored the final nine points from the free-throw line, guard Ariel Massengale hitting six to contribute to her game-high 28 points.
The Lady Vols, who lost their SEC opener to LSU, haven’t been 0-2 in the conference since 1996-97, which is also the last time they lost consecutive SEC games.
“… It was a must win for us,” Tennessee coach Holly Warlick said. “We talked a lot about not going 0-2. We talked about playing with a lot of heart and desire. I thought we did. I thought our players stepped up and made big, big defensive stops.”
About the Author
