Georgia’s comeback effort fell short on Thursday night as the Lady Bulldogs fell to the No. 7 LSU Tigers, 80-54, in front of 7,406 fans in the final home game of the season.
The Lady Bulldogs (12-16, 3-12 SEC) trailed by 32 points midway through the third quarter before going on a 16-0 run to come within 13 points at the beginning of the fourth quarter. The Tigers (25-5, 12-3 SEC) then used a 20-9 fourth-quarter advantage to pull away for the win. Javyn Nicholson tallied 17 points to lead Georgia in scoring for the fourth-straight game while Asia Avinger added 10 points and five assists.
Georgia fell behind 13-5 early after a 7-0 LSU run forced the Lady Bulldogs to take a timeout at the 5:22 mark in the first quarter. The Lady Bulldogs responded with a 10-4 run of their own, highlighted by eight points from Avinger, to cut the Tigers’ lead to two points, 17-15, with 3:16 left in the frame. LSU then scored the final seven points of the quarter and held a 24-15 lead at the end of the period.
After Nicholson scored the first bucket of the second quarter for Georgia, LSU countered with an 8-0 run to take a double-digit lead. Taniyah Thompson paced the Lady Bulldogs with six points in the quarter, but the Tigers sunk 58.8 percent of their shots in the frame to take a 45-23 lead into halftime.
The Lady Bulldogs trailed by as many as 32 points before closing the third quarter on a 14-0 tear to trim the deficit to 60-45. The Lady Bulldogs made 50 percent of their shots in the frame behind a combined 14 points from Nicholson and De’Mauri Flournoy to outscore the Tigers, 22-15, in the period.
Nicholson’s jumper to open the fourth quarter cut LSU’s lead to 13, but the Lady Bulldogs came no closer as the Tigers scored the next nine points to push their lead to 69-47 with 6:34 to play. Hailey Van Lith led LSU with 18 points while Angel Reese tallied LSU 17 points and 15 rebounds to help the Tigers secure an 80-54 victory.
Storylines from Today’s Game
Georgia had 10 fast-break points and three steals in the first half.
The Lady Bulldogs made 8-of-16 shots (50%) in the third quarter, including a perfect 3-of-3 from downtown.
Georgia scored nine points off four LSU turnovers in the third quarter.
Career Highs/Player Superlatives
Javyn Nicholson led Georgia in scoring for the fourth-straight game with 17 points, adding five rebounds.
Asia Avinger scored all 10 of her points in the first quarter and dished a team-high five assists.
Taniyah Thompson tallied seven points and six rebounds.
De’Mauri Flournoy scored nine points and added two steals.
Quote of the Day
“It gives us a bigger reason to play,” fifth-year senior Javyn Nicholson said of the crowd. “Obviously when there are a lot of fans and family and the energy is good, we feed off of that. I think that’s what we did. In the first quarter, we were lit. It was a great environment to play in, and that’s why you come to Georgia. Win or lose, these are great environments to play in, and these are the types of games we want to play in. Big games against big opponents, and we want to compete.”
What’s Next
Georgia will conclude its regular season at Vanderbilt on Sunday, March 3, at 2 p.m. ET. The game will be broadcast live on SEC Network+.
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