UGA women upset Missouri on road for 3rd straight win

UGA won its third straight SEC game Thursday after defeating No. 21 Missouri 65-50 on the road. Four Bulldogs scored in double figures, and Marjorie Butler and Tiaria Griffin led the way with 16 and 15 points, respectively.

Most of the game was a back-and-forth battle that featured seven lead changes and three ties, but the Bulldogs dominated the fourth quarter, outscoring the Tigers 28-13. Missouri went up 39-37 at the beginning of the quarter, but an 8-0 run down the stretch gave Georgia the lead and enough momentum to win the contest.

“This was a great chance for (us) to get another win on the road against a really good Missouri team,” Georgia head coach Joni Taylor said after the game.

Here are five observations from the game:

1. Sweet revenge

Georgia’s last meeting with the Tigers resulted in a 54-48 loss at home, but the Bulldogs redeemed themselves on the road against one of the top-scoring teams in the SEC.

Georgia outscored the Tigers in the first and second quarters, but Missouri was able to tie the game at the  end of the third. After going down in the fourth, Georgia rallied back to win by 15, shooting 48.3 percent in the second half.

“We have so many options when we run our motion offense that we can run that all the way through and know that we’re going to get really good looks,” Taylor said.

2. Bulldog defense

Missouri entered the game averaging 72.4 points a game, but Georgia’s defense held them to 50 points on 35.3 percent shooting. The Tigers were outscored in three of four quarters and had 15 turnovers, which resulted in 24 points for the Bulldogs.

“We were doing a really good job of guarding them defensively, so I knew as long as we can continue to guard them defensively, we would let our offense take care of itself and get things going,” Taylor said.

3. Tiger free throws

Missouri also came into Thursday’s contest with the SEC’s second-best free throw percentage of 73.7 percent. The Tigers went 8-for-12 from the stripe, for 67 percent. The Bulldogs got to the line less than Missouri, but were able to make 100 percent of their attempts (6-for-6).

4. Seniority

Combined, seniors Butler, Griffin and Shacobia Barbee went 16-for-33 (48 percent) and scored 45 points. Butler also added four rebounds, assists and free throws to her statline.

“I’m so proud of our kids, Marjorie Butler in particular,” Taylor said. “She’s in the gym all the time. Sometimes she struggles to shoot the basketball, but tonight they played off of her, and she was smart about taking her shots, and she had really big shots for us.”

Freshman Caliya Robinson pitched in a double-double off the bench with 12 points on 6-for-10 shooting and 10 rebounds, continuing her hot streak from the past few games.

5. Breaking even

After dropping its first four conference games, the Bulldogs are now an even 5-5 in the SEC. Thursday’s game marked the first time Georgia has won back-to-back road games since 2010, according to Taylor.

Georgia will return home on Sunday to face Ole Miss at 2 p.m. ET.