Feb. 12, 2012
ATHENS, Ga. – The Vanderbilt women’s basketball team saw its five game winning streak come to an end at the hands of No. 21/20 Georgia, 76-63. The Commodores fell to 19-6, 7-5 in SEC play, while the Lady Bulldogs improved to 19-6, 8-4 in league action.
Vanderbilt just never seemed to get things going, falling down 10-2 over the first five minutes and missing six of its first seven shots. The Commodores never tied or took the lead in the contest. After Georgia led by 18 with 15:37 to play, the closest Vanderbilt would get is five points.
Christina Foggie led the way in the effort, scoring 22 points, including 15 in the second half to try and help her team rally. She also pulled down six rebounds. Elan Brown just missed a double-double with nine points and 10 rebounds, while Jasmine Lister dished out seven assists.
Vanderbilt did not have an answer for Georgia forward Anne Marie Armstrong. She scored 23 points and grabbed six rebounds, while shooting 11-16 from the field. Jasmine Hassell added a double-double with 18 points and 11 rebounds, while Jasmine James scored 17 points.
The Commodores shot well from the field (46.4%), but struggled to hold on to the basketball, committing 19 turnovers. Those 19 miscues led to 26 Lady Bulldog points.
Over a five-minute span in the second half, it looked like Vanderbilt was making a comeback. They cut an 18-point Georgia lead to five, holding the Lady Bulldogs without a field goal from the 15:37 mark to the 10:07 mark, when Foggie connected for a three to make it 52-47.
The Lady Bulldogs responded with a 7-0 run of their own, pushing the lead back to 12 at 59-47. The Commodores would get no closer than nine points the rest of the way.
The loss snaps a five game winning streak that began with a 68-48 win over Georgia at Memorial Gym on Jan. 26. It also snaps a two-game road winning streak.
Vanderbilt will look to start a new streak on Thursday, February 16, when they play host to Florida. Tipoff against the Gators is set for 8:00 p.m. at Memorial Gym.
Vanderbilt Head Coach Melanie Balcomb Quotes
On Georgia’s play…
“I have to give Georgia credit. I thought they were very prepared. They had all week to prepare for us while we were getting beat up by Tennessee having to fight at home. They used that time wisely. They were much more aggressive. They took things away from us and they were really ready to execute against our defense this time. They started off more aggressive, out-worked us, and then it was a fight back all the time. Every time we fought back with them and made a run, they fought right back. I thought they were very well prepared.”
On the game…
“The fact that we weren’t on the same page, our communication wasn’t good to start the game. I think our mental toughness was one of the things that we were struggling with on the road before we won our last two games. But this is the first Sunday game in a big environment; we’ve won Thursday night games in that environment. I think we lost some focus tonight. We’re going to have to become a better team on the road still. I think they need to figure it out on the road.”
