The Lady Bulldogs basketball team returned home to Stegeman Coliseum on Monday to defeat the Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles, 56-48.
Georgia improves to 6-0 on the season. The six-game start is the best in the Joni Taylor era, edging her 5-1 start in her first year. The Golden Eagles fall to 1-4, with the Bulldogs holding them to their lowest point total of the season.
Freshman guard Maya Caldwell led the Lady Bulldogs, generating her highest scoring output of her career with 12 points, shooting 50 percent from the field. The native of Charlotte, N.C. also controlled the floor with career-highs in minutes and rebounds at 22 and four, respectively.
"[Caldwell] came in and played really good minutes defensively and then executed offensively,” Taylor said. “Maya's been a kid who can score really well. She's got to concentrate on executing the offense, and she's really worked hard on learning that and doing that. You could tell tonight. I thought she really saved us."
Capping Georgia’s double-digit scorers was forward Caliya Robinson with 10, notching her 13th double-figure outing in the last 16 games. With six rebounds, the junior notched her 400thcareer rebound. She also supplied six blocks and three steals on defense. Robinson has 14 games with at least four blocks and five games with six or more.
Tennessee Tech jumped out to a 9-3 lead, but it took Georgia less than a minute to tie up the game at nine with a 7-0 run. Steals from senior Haley Clark and freshman Gabby Connally set up respective jumpers from Connally and Caldwell, and a Mackenzie Engram layup evened the contest. To close out the first quarter and knot the game at 11, redshirt junior Bianca Blanaru snagged a steal and dished it to Stephanie Paul for a buzzer-beating layup.
After both teams traded two buckets apiece to open the second quarter, Georgia continued with 10 unanswered points in the paint, highlighted by layups from Morrison and Robinson to lock in the 25-15 lead.
"At halftime, we just talked about missing shots,” Taylor said. “There's going to be nights where the ball doesn't go in the hole. You can't always control that, but what you can control is your effort, your intensity and the way you go about things on the defensive end of the floor."
After a pair of free throws from the Golden Eagles to open the third quarter, Georgia surged to a 9-2 run, featuring three Caldwell buckets for the 34-24 advantage. The Bulldogs separated themselves by as many as 11 points in the final quarter, with Paul providing the 47-36 edge with a three at the 4:46 mark. With a little over a minute remaining, a Connally three-pointer and a pair of free throws apiece from Robinson, Connally and Engram sealed the 56-48 Georgia victory.
The Lady Bulldogs’ 13 assists bring the season total to 120, which rank first in the Southeastern Conference. Engram finished the night with a team-high nine rebounds, while redshirt sophomore Taja Cole dished a team-high four assists. The guard has led the team in assists four of the six games this season.
Georgia’s win over Tennessee Tech opens a three-game home stand in Stegeman Coliseum. Next, the Bulldogs play host to Furman at 7 p.m. on Thursday, which will be available for streaming on SEC Network Plus. The second-ranked Texas Longhorns round out the trio on Sunday at 4 p.m. on SEC Network.
Georgia improves to 6-0 on the season. The six-game start is the best in the Joni Taylor era, edging her 5-1 start in her first year. The Golden Eagles fall to 1-4, with the Bulldogs holding them to their lowest point total of the season.
Freshman guard Maya Caldwell led the Lady Bulldogs, generating her highest scoring output of her career with 12 points, shooting 50 percent from the field. The native of Charlotte, N.C. also controlled the floor with career-highs in minutes and rebounds at 22 and four, respectively.
"[Caldwell] came in and played really good minutes defensively and then executed offensively,” Taylor said. “Maya's been a kid who can score really well. She's got to concentrate on executing the offense, and she's really worked hard on learning that and doing that. You could tell tonight. I thought she really saved us."
Capping Georgia’s double-digit scorers was forward Caliya Robinson with 10, notching her 13th double-figure outing in the last 16 games. With six rebounds, the junior notched her 400thcareer rebound. She also supplied six blocks and three steals on defense. Robinson has 14 games with at least four blocks and five games with six or more.
Tennessee Tech jumped out to a 9-3 lead, but it took Georgia less than a minute to tie up the game at nine with a 7-0 run. Steals from senior Haley Clark and freshman Gabby Connally set up respective jumpers from Connally and Caldwell, and a Mackenzie Engram layup evened the contest. To close out the first quarter and knot the game at 11, redshirt junior Bianca Blanaru snagged a steal and dished it to Stephanie Paul for a buzzer-beating layup.
After both teams traded two buckets apiece to open the second quarter, Georgia continued with 10 unanswered points in the paint, highlighted by layups from Morrison and Robinson to lock in the 25-15 lead.
"At halftime, we just talked about missing shots,” Taylor said. “There's going to be nights where the ball doesn't go in the hole. You can't always control that, but what you can control is your effort, your intensity and the way you go about things on the defensive end of the floor."
After a pair of free throws from the Golden Eagles to open the third quarter, Georgia surged to a 9-2 run, featuring three Caldwell buckets for the 34-24 advantage. The Bulldogs separated themselves by as many as 11 points in the final quarter, with Paul providing the 47-36 edge with a three at the 4:46 mark. With a little over a minute remaining, a Connally three-pointer and a pair of free throws apiece from Robinson, Connally and Engram sealed the 56-48 Georgia victory.
The Lady Bulldogs’ 13 assists bring the season total to 120, which rank first in the Southeastern Conference. Engram finished the night with a team-high nine rebounds, while redshirt sophomore Taja Cole dished a team-high four assists. The guard has led the team in assists four of the six games this season.
Georgia’s win over Tennessee Tech opens a three-game home stand in Stegeman Coliseum. Next, the Bulldogs play host to Furman at 7 p.m. on Thursday, which will be available for streaming on SEC Network Plus. The second-ranked Texas Longhorns round out the trio on Sunday at 4 p.m. on SEC Network.
