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Monday, Nov. 22 9:00pm ET
Georgia's second-half run kills UCSB | |||||
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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (AP) -- For almost 18 minutes UC Santa Barbara hung close to No. 3 Georgia. Then the Lady Bulldogs went on their run. Kelly Miller scored 24 points and Georgia used a 16-3 run to beat the Gauchos 85-64 Monday night to win the Women's Preseason NIT championship.
The run, which started with two minutes left in the first half, turned a four-point lead into a 17-point advantage and Georgia coasted the rest of the way. The lead grew to as high as 26 points as the Bulldogs shot 63 percent from the field over the final 20 minutes. "We got a little too excited instead of trying to take care of business," UC Santa Barbara's Stacy Clinesmith said. "The lesson we've learned is prepare the same way for every game." Coco Miller scored 15 points for Georgia (4-0), while tournament MVP Tawana McDonald had 14 points and 14 rebounds. "I was just concentrating on my shots, this year I have to step up more," McDonald said. Kelly Miller, who scored 17 in the second half and dished out nine assists, was more impressed with her team's defensive play. "We did a better job on defense. That's how we like to play," she said. UC Santa Barbara (3-1) was led by Erin Buescher with 15 points, while Clinesmith had 12 and Kristi Rohr 10. "To beat a team like Georgia we need to do a good job playing our basketball game," UC Santa Barbara coach Mark French said. He wasn't completely discouraged, though. "I suspect that we know we can be competitive with some of the best teams in the country," he said. In the NIT third-place game Monday night, Illinois pounded Boston College 73-42. Besides McDonald, the all-tournament team included Georgia's Kelly Miller, Clinesmith and Buescher from UC Santa Barbara, Allison Curtin from Illinois and Boston College's Becky Gottstein. | ALSO SEE Womens College Basketball Scoreboard
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