UGA Women’s Basketball: Georgia Leaves Starkville with 66-63 Win Over Mississippi State

Team Statistics

Game Stats	UGa	MSU
FG%	.443	.412
3FG%	.500	.300
FT%	.833	.667
RB	50	28
TO	16	4
STL	2	8

STARKVILLE, Miss. – After building a 27-point lead in the first half, the No. 13 Georgia Lady Bulldogs defeated Mississippi State 66-63 at Humphrey Coliseum Thursday evening.

Redshirt senior Mikayla Coombs led Georgia in scoring with 13 points, highlighted by a clutch jumper that put the Lady Dogs in front 64-63 in the final minute. Que Morrison, who scored 12, hit two free throws with 10 seconds remaining to give the Lady Dogs the final 66-63 lead. Rickea Jackson poured in 27 for Mississippi State. She missed a potential game tying three with three seconds remaining.

Jenna Staiti had eight points and 10 boards for Georgia.

Coombs and redshirt senior Malury Bates both set a new personal bests on the night, combined for nine blocks.

Georgia improves its record to 15-4 (4-2 SEC) while Mississippi State drops to 11-6 (2-3 SEC).  The victory breaks MSU’s six-game win streak in the series, and extends the Lady Bulldogs winning streak on the season to three games.

“Mississippi State made some adjustments; they have two great scorers in Rickea Jackson and Anastasia Hayes, as well as Myah Taylor who is a leader,” said head coach Joni Taylor. “They’ve got people who have experience and we knew they were going to make a run. To limit them to seven points in the first quarter was really good on our part, but it’s not typical of them.”

Georgia trailed 7-4, and then went on an astounding 25-0 run to grab control of the game. The Lady Bulldogs biggest lead was 27, as Georgia stormed ahead 38-11 in the second quarter.

Outstanding defense and cold MSU shooting were a big part of Georgia’s run. State missed 19 consecutive shots in the first half.

The Lady Bulldogs led at the half, 44-24.

Mississippi State opened up the half with a 18-2 run to cut Georgia’s lead to four points. Led by Coombs, the Lady Bulldogs answered back and scored eight points to extend the lead 54-46.

Mississippi State took its second lead of the game with less than a minute remaining 63-62. Coombs and Morrison then responded as Georgia scored the final four points of the game.

Next up, the Lady Bulldogs return home to Stegeman Coliseum to face the Tennessee Lady Volunteers on Sunday January 23 at 2:00 p.m. ET. Coverage will be available on SEC Network.