Georgia battles, can’t overcome Iowa home court advantage in NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament

Georgia took Iowa to the brink but could not overcome the No. 2-seeded Hawkeyes and their raucous home crowd.

Iowa beat the Lady Bulldogs 74-66 in Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City, Iowa, in a Round of 32 NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament game on Sunday.

Iowa, meanwhile, was 8-for-8 shooting free throws in the final quarter.

Georgia used its size and athletic advantage throughout the game, out-rebounding Iowa 42-29 with Jordan Isaacs grabbing a team-high 10 to go with her 6 points.

The Lady Bulldogs held a 24-0 advantage in bench scoring, too, as Alisha Lewis brought the energy with 10 assists and 8 points in her 33 minutes.

Georgia held the lead as late as the 2:01 mark of the third quarter before the home team scored for the ninth and final lead change of the game.

Iowa had held a 41-40 lead at the half on the strength of 9-of-16 shooting (56 percent) from beyond the 3-point arc.

The Hawkeyes had led by as many as 10 points in the first half on a McKenna Warnock 3-pointer that closed out a 9-2 run and made it 31-21 at the 7:30 mark.

The Lady Bulldogs battled back with a 14-3 run, taking a short-lived 35-34 lead on an Alisha Lewis 3-pointer.

Battles scored 16 of her points in the first half, while Clark was held to just 8 points through the first 20 minutes.