January 11, 2002
Tatyana Troina hit six 3-pointers and scored 22 points to lead the South Carolina Lady Gamecocks (No. 10 ESPN/USA Today, No. 9 AP) to a 71-64 victory Thursday night over the Georgia Lady Bulldogs (No. 8 ESPN/USA Today, No. 15 AP).
South Carolina (15-1, 3-0 Southeastern Conference) extended the best start in school history with its 11th straight victory and won three straight SEC games for the first time ever.
“I think we played with a lot of poise down the stretch,” South Carolina coach Susan Walvius said. “This was a great win for us. Every time this team has been challenged this year, we have really stepped up. I am excited for our team. We have gone into each game with the mentality that we are going to do what it takes to win. I don’t think that we executed very well tonight and you have to give Georgia credit for that. They took us out of our flow somewhat. I think that our defense dictated the tempo. ”
Kara Braxton led Georgia with 18 points and Mary Beth Lycett added 14. The Lady Bulldogs committed 27 turnovers, including 15 by three freshman starters.
South Carolina led by as many as 11 in the second half, 57-46 with 10:43 to play after Cristina Ciocan scored on a breakaway off a Georgia turnover. But with 5:55 to play, Lycett hit her fourth 3-pointer to pull Georgia within 60-59.
Two layups by Petra Ujhelyi then sparked South Carolina to a 67-60 lead with 3:10 to play. Shaunzinski Gortman added 15 points for South Carolina.
The Lady Bulldogs took a 14-6 lead after Nikki Eason’s 3-pointer with 14:40 to play in the first half. But the Lady Gamecocks went on a 23-3 surge, forcing nine turnovers in the process.
Meanwhile, South Carolina got inside production from Gortman with three baskets and outside scoring from Troina. She had two of her three first-half 3-pointers during the surge.
South Carolina’s biggest lead was 29-17 after Jocelyn Penn’s fastbreak layup with 6:47 to play. Braxton and Lycett sparked a mini-comeback for Georgia, which trailed 39-31 at the half after Eason’s buzzer-beating 3-pointer.
