Olivia Sayer
Trailing by 32, the Georgia women’s basketball team rallied in a late attempt to overthrow its SEC counterpart, the Louisiana State University Tigers. Savannah Henderson drilled a 3-pointer on the fast break, leaving the defense in the dust. After a turnover resulted in another basket for its opponent, the Bulldogs utilized the paint to put up points. By the final quarter, Georgia had trimmed its deficit to 13.
Georgia eventually lost the contest to No. 9 LSU, 80-54, on Thursday evening in Stegeman Coliseum. Despite the final score, the Bulldogs never gave up.
“I just never want them as women to be quitters, and to quit and to lie down, ever,” head coach Katie Abrahamson-Henderson said. “We’re trying to teach them life lessons too.”
In front of its largest home crowd in 12 years, the Bulldog offense got out to a blazing start. After LSU began the scoring with a jumper, De’Mauri Flournoy drained a 3-pointer to bring the 7,406 fans in attendance to their feet.
“They came out smoking in the first quarter,” LSU head coach Kim Mulkey said. “I mean, they really did.”
The fast start could be attributed to Georgia’s solid shooting, an aspect of its game that has been a weakness this season. With 3:16 remaining in the opening quarter, the Bulldogs were shooting 67% on field goals and 75% from behind the arc. The 3-point statistic was especially impressive, considering Georgia averaged 27.9% coming into the matchup.
Florunoy had the most attempts for Georgia on the night, finishing with two more than the rest of the team combined. Throughout the season, Flournoy has been a key contributor for the Bulldogs, providing a steady presence on and off the court.
“She’s just an amazing young woman,” Abrahamson-Henderson said. “I think she has all of her priorities straight. Academics is super important to her; she’s got an amazing family.”
Only trailing 17-15, the Bulldogs went cold and, allowed the Tigers to score the final seven points of the quarter to end with a 24-15 lead.
Javyn Nicholson opened the scoring in the second, but LSU used an 8-0 run to further bolster its lead. Heading into halftime, Georgia trailed 45-23 and only scored eight points in the frame.
The Bulldogs’ deficit grew larger in the second half, as LSU scored seven straight points out of the gate. Things then went from bad to worse for Georgia, as the Bulldogs fell behind by 32 with almost seven minutes remaining in the third.
Then came the perseverance.
Despite the score and caliber of its opponent, Georgia was not ready to concede the victory. The offense went to work, as Nicholson and Flournoy piloted a 14-0 run to cut LSU’s lead to 15. Behind the two’s performances, the Bulldogs outscored the Tigers 22-15 and shot .500 in the quarter.
Tasked with a matchup against LSU’s Angel Reese and Aneesah Morrow, Nicholson began to find her groove.
“It’s just a great look for me,” Nicholson said. “They tested me, and I feel like I responded in a very good way.”
Nicholson opened the final quarter with another basket, but it was the closest the Bulldogs would get to overtaking the Tigers. LSU cruised from there, on route to a 80-54 victory.
As evidenced throughout the contest, Georgia had multiple opportunities to give up. The Bulldogs instead chose to persist and savor the opportunity to play a game they love.
“We just tried to keep them fighting and positive,” Abrahamson-Henderson said. “Because it’s a game they love, certainly they should be positive about it.”
This approach garnered praise from the opposing sideline.
“Katie is a very good coach,” Mulkey said. “She’s played the game at the highest level. She’s won, and she’s got a whole new team. She brought her team with her from [UCF], and they were outstanding last year. So, you have to replace players and sometimes when you replace them, it takes a little bit of time to make them better and play together, but they didn’t quit, she didn’t quit.”
Georgia next travels to Vanderbilt to take on the Commodores at 2 p.m. in Historic Memorial Gymnasium. From there, the Bulldogs will compete in the SEC’s Women’s Basketball Tournament, taking place in Greenville from March 6-10.