Link to Article on The Red & Black
Olivia Sayer
And just like that, Georgia women’s basketball’s 2023 season comes to an end.
Georgia women’s basketball’s season wrapped up Wednesday afternoon at Bon Secours Wellness Arena in Greenville, South Carolina. A 64-50 loss to Kentucky in the first round of the SEC Tournament gave the Bulldogs a 12-18 final record and capped off Georgia’s first losing season in program history.
Despite what is etched in the record books, it was not all negatives for the Bulldogs.
Fifth-year Javyn Nicholson capped off her Georgia career with a 23-point performance, scoring slightly less than half of the Bulldogs’ final tally.
“Personally, I feel like this has been one of the best seasons I’ve ever had at The University of Georgia,” Nicholson said. “Unfortunately, obviously, the season record and the team overall success hasn’t been what we wanted. But I felt like I’ve performed the way I wanted to, and I’ve just played in a way that best represents me and who I am.”
The woes endured by Georgia this season also allowed the Bulldogs to instill a ‘keep fighting’ mentality, something that Nicholson hopes will pay dividends for future teams that don the red and black.
“We just wanted to keep fighting,” Nicholson said. “We’ve got sophomores and freshmen, they need to know that nothing is going to be easy, especially in this league. So just continuing that mindset of just fighting every day will eventually bring success.”
Facing a Kentucky team the Bulldogs had previously beaten by seven points, Georgia started fast. Led by Nicholson’s six points out of the gate, Georgia held a 10-4 lead midway into the first quarter.
Then, the pendulum swung in the opposite direction.
Kentucky utilized deep shots to tie the game, drilling 3-pointers from all around the arc. With both teams locked at 10, the Wildcats surged ahead.
The go-ahead points came off a layup following a defensive rebound for the Wildcats. Georgia’s attempt at an answer turned into a gift, as Kentucky used a turnover to score two more. At the end of the first quarter, the Bulldogs faced a 21-14 deficit.
Both teams traded points to begin the second quarter, exchanging shots from within the paint. A 3-pointer from the Wildcats eventually put them ahead by 10, while Georgia’s offense went cold.
After a four-minute scoring drought for the Bulldogs, fifth-year Jordan Cole finally broke through with a layup. However, another dry period of almost two minutes ensued, and the lack of offensive success had Georgia trailing 36-22 at the half.
Georgia’s plan was evident throughout the game: get the ball to Nicholson – who was named to the All-SEC team prior in the week. The Bulldogs utilized her both as a driver and receiver, making plays from all over the court.
As a result, Nicholson scored 10 of Georgia’s first 12 points coming out of the half.
“She is the type of player that keeps you up at night,” Kentucky head coach Kyra Elzy said. “The more film I watched last night, the more nervous I became. Probably after the fourth or fifth game, I text the staff and they were like ‘go to bed’”.
After a pair of free throws trimmed the Bulldogs’ deficit to five, Georgia and Kentucky once again traded shots. A 7-0 run by the Wildcats left the Bulldogs only 10 minutes to try and salvage their season while trailing by 13.
Kentucky carried its run into the final quarter, holding the Bulldogs scoreless for the first two minutes of the quarter. Georgia’s first basket came when redshirt freshman Savannah Henderson found Nicholson under the rim, who finished the drill for two points.
The Bulldogs scratched and clawed throughout the rest of the contest, but the closest Georgia got was within nine. Unable to muster up any deep-run magic, Georgia’s season ended at the hands of Kentucky behind a 64-50 defeat.
For the Bulldogs, the game was lost in two separate areas, the 3-point line and the foul line.
On 11 attempts from beyond the arc, zero of them went through the rim. 3-point shooting was not a strong suit for Georgia this season, but shooting 0% was a low for the Bulldogs. Following the game, head coach Katie Abrahamson-Henderson was at a loss for words when asked about what went wrong.
“The round thing didn’t go in the round thing,” Abrahamson-Henderson said. “Obviously for Savannah, she’s a freshman. I’m not too sure why [De’Mauri Flournoy’s] didn’t go in and [Asia Avinger’s]. They all shoot a lot.”
From the foul line, it was not the percentages that stood out, but rather the attempts. While Georgia was at the line 13 times, Kentucky doubled that with 26 attempts.
The Bulldogs will now head into the offseason, where they have a slew of highly-touted freshmen coming to Athens. Georgia also has talent returning, as Avinger and Flournoy each have remaining eligibility, while redshirt freshmen Henderson, Stefanie Ingram and Fatima Diakhate gained valuable experience.