ATHENS, Ga. (AP) -- Georgia was in serious trouble: Two players were hurting and the inside game was struggling.
So the No. 4 Lady Bulldogs gave the ball to Kelly Miller, who
made everyone (except Florida) feel better.
The All-America guard scored a season-high 28 points and Georgia finished the game with a 15-0 run for a 72-59 victory over Florida (No. 11 ESPN/USA Today, No. 10 AP) on Thursday night.
"Great players find a way to win," Florida coach Carol Ross said. "Kelly Miller made great play after great play."
The Lady Bulldogs (14-2, 2-0 Southeastern Conference) won their 12th straight game, which was much tighter than the final score indicated.
Florida (13-2, 2-1) led by as many as 10 points in the opening
period, but Miller scored the first nine points of the second half
to swing the momentum to Georgia.
"She works without the ball as well as anybody," Ross said.
"It's hard to keep it out of her hands. She doesn't depend on her
teammates to get her the ball. She works hard to get open. It's a
handful trying to guard her."
Still, the Lady Bulldogs trailed 59-57 with three minutes left
after Sherisha Hills hit a rare 3-pointer for Florida, which went
4-of-28 beyond the arch overall. As it turned out, that would be
the Lady Gators' final basket.
Christi Thomas, who bounced back from a dismal first half, tied
the score on the inside and Coco Miller, taking a pass from her
twin sister, hit a baseline jumper that put Georgia ahead for good
with 2:12 to go.
Thomas followed with two free throws to stretch the margin to 63-59, then made a key defensive stop with 1:08 remaining. She tied up Naomi Mobley for a jump ball that gave possession to Georgia.
Kelly Miller, whose previous season high was 27 points against Massachusetts, came down the court to hit the decisive basket.
With the shot clock winding down, she drove past the foul line and hit a 10-foot runner while being fouled by Hills with 45.3 seconds left. Miller finished off the three-point play with a free throw to make it 66-59.
Overall, Miller was 9-of-15 from the field and made all 10 of her free-throw attempts. She also had nine rebounds, four assists and a steal while committing just one turnover.
"Our inside people were not as good tonight as we have been," Georgia coach Andy Landers said. "So we put all our eggs in Kelly's basket."
Thomas, who was 0-of-7 shooting in the first half, finished with
14 points and nine rebounds. Tameiko Washington, only 5-foot-11,
made two key baskets on back-to-back possessions with about five
minutes to go, getting them both after offensive rebounds.
"I thought the biggest baskets were Tameiko grabbing a couple of offensive rebounds and putting them back," Kelly Miller said.
But the victory was costly for Georgia, which lost one of its top players for 4-to-6 weeks. While swiping for the ball at the defensive end, Deanna Nolan broke the middle finger on her right hand late in the first half.
Also, reserve Camille Murphy went out in the second half with a
bruised knee.
"A good win, but I'm fearful it cost us a lot," Landers said.
"I'm proud we were composed enough -- in spite of the fact we were
not playing well -- to fight through it."
Brandi McCain led Florida with 13 points, but made only 5-of-19
from the field. The Lady Gators shot 33 percent (22-of-66) as a
team, mainly because they kept firing it up from 3-point territory
after Georgia went to a zone to cut down room on the inside.
McCain was 3-of-14 on her treys, Hills 1-of-9.
"In the SEC, the war is won in the paint," Ross said. "This is not a finesse league. You're not going to win by shooting 3-pointers."
|
|
ALSO SEE
Women's College Basketball Scoreboard
Florida Clubhouse
Georgia Clubhouse
Georgia's Nolan out 4-6 weeks with broken finger
|
