Revenge was on the minds of the Georgia Lady Bulldogs as they avenged their Jan. 24 loss to LSU in a 58-47 win in the PMAC on Sunday.
“We were different,” said LSU coach Nikki Fargas. “I thought our intensity and effort was very different than we were at Georgia.”
The Lady Tigers (8-17, 2-10 Southeastern Conference) won the tip but Georgia (19-6, 7-5 SEC) scored first with a three-pointer after two minutes. LSU was able to control the paint, limiting the Lady Bulldogs to five shots from within the arc and winning the rebound battle 12-8.
Junior forward Alexis Hyder had seven rebounds in the first to go along with her six points. Her effort was not enough as Georgia was able to pull away from the perimeter, where they shot four-of-seven to lead 14-8 at the end of the first.
In the second quarter, Georgia was able to slow Hyder to just three points and two rebounds, but other Lady Tigers picked up the pace.
LSU was able to tighten the gap behind a tougher perimeter defense that limited the Lady Bulldogs to one made three point shot.
Junior guard Rina Hill hit a layup with three seconds left in the half to close the gap to 25-22 behind the Lady Bulldogs.
LSU was able to use the momentum at the beginning of the third to take a 26-25 lead before Georgia started to push away with a nine-to-two run and a fourth foul by Hyder.
“It was very frustrating to be on the bench when I knew I needed to be on the floor,” Hyder said.
The Lady Bulldogs capitalized off of Hyder’s missing presence in the box as the Lady Tigers were outrebounded 13-8.
LSU was unable to recover in the fourth as Georgia put the game out of reach as the Lady Bulldogs outscored the Lady Tigers 10-2 in the first four minutes of the fourth.
LSU shot 15-26 from the free throw line on the game and 9-17 in the second half.
“We have got to change what we have been doing,” Fargas said. “We have got to change our mindset when we get to the freethrow line. I think we are getting there enough times in the basketball game, but we are not knocking them down.”
Hyder compiled a double-double with 10 points and 12 rebounds before fouling out in the fourth. Freshman guard Shanice Norton led the Lady Tigers with a career high 15 points along with five rebounds.
Georgia freshman forward Caliya Robinson led the Lady Bulldogs with a career high 19 points and a career high 11 rebounds. Georgia senior guard Shacobia Barbee also tallied a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds.
The Lady Tigers outrebounded Georgia 38-36, but were outscored 28-14 in the paint.
The next game for LSU at No. 15 Texas A&M on Thursday.