UGA defeats Vanderbilt on the road
UGA earned its third win in four games Sunday with a 64-58 road victory over Vanderbilt. Three Bulldogs scored in double figures, led by Shacobia Barbee with 15, followed by Caliya Robinson and Tiaria Griffin with 14 and 13 respectively.
Georgia (16-6, 4-5 SEC) saw its 11-point lead dwindle after a Vanderbilt (15-6, 4-4 SEC) run brought the Commodores within two at halftime. Vanderbilt took the lead at the seven-minute mark in the third quarter, but Georgia regained the lead at the end of the quarter and held on for the rest of the game.
“We got out and ran,” Georgia head coach Joni Taylor said. “We have a tendency against the zone to just want to run plays, and I was like, ‘Guys, we’ve got to push. Stay with it.’”
Here are five observations from the game:
1. Back and forth battle
Sunday’s contest proved to be a game of runs, with six ties and and five lead changes. Both teams shot 47 percent from the floor, but UGA outscored the Commodores in three of four quarters.
Georgia faced a 7-0 deficit in the first quarter, but finished the period on a 16-0 run to take a 16-7 lead. Georgia went up by 11 points in the second, but Vanderbilt went on a run of its own to bring the score within two at halftime.
Both teams went back-and-forth offensively in the third quarter, with three ties and two lead changes in the quarter. Georgia was able to outscore the Commodores 19-17 in the fourth to hold on for the victory.
“(Vanderbilt) has several offensive weapons, so we knew that we had to keep scoring, because it’s nothing for them to come down, hit a quick three or pass it inside to (Marqu’es) Webb,” Taylor said. “They gave us problems all night, inside and out, so the mentality was keep attacking.”
2. Identical stats
Georgia and Vanderbilt had similar offenses in Sunday’s game, shooting nearly identical percentages from the field.
Both teams ended the game shooting 47 percent, with Georgia shooting 23-for-49 and Vanderbilt shooting 22-for-47. Both teams also made four 3-pointers, but Georgia earned the slight edge at the free-throw line with 14 points to Vanderbilt’s 10.
3. Keep rebounding
For the second game in a row, Georgia dominated on the boards. Georgia grabbed 14 more rebounds than Vanderbilt did with 34, 14 of which coming from the offensive glass. The Bulldogs were able to come away with 16 second-chance points in the contest.
4. Robinson’s best
Robinson has consistently been an impact player for the Bulldogs in the past few games. Coming off an eight-point game against Auburn, the freshman posted a career-high 14 points, making seven of her nine field goals.
“Coming into this game, if you would’ve told me Caliya Robinson would’ve been guarding Webb most of the game, I would’ve said no way, but she got in there, and she did a great job against her.” Taylor said. “When she plays the way she’s capable of, we’re just a different team.”
5. Win at Memorial
Sunday’s victory was Georgia’s first win at Memorial Gymnasium since Feb. 19, 2006. Prior to Sunday, Vanderbilt won the last five matchups in Nashville.
“In the past when we’ve come here, when we’ve gotten down we almost have this defeatist mindset because of the gym, and those are just excuses,” Taylor said. “This gym is going to be what it is, so that can’t be the reason we don’t shoot well or the reason we don’t attack.”
Georgia will travel to Columbia on Thursday to take on Missouri at 8 p.m. ET.
