Jan. 26, 2006
COLUMBIA, S.C. – The University of South Carolina women’s basketball team fell to No. 15 Georgia, 74-65, Thursday night at the Colonial Center. With the loss, the Gamecocks dropped to 10-8 overall and 1-5 in the Southeastern Conference, while the Bulldogs improved to 14-5 overall and 4-2 in the SEC.
Georgia opened the second half with a 13-4 run and shot 46.3 percent from the field in the game. Twenty total turnovers and 12 in the second frame spoiled South Carolina’s chances for an upset.
Guard Lea Fabbri tied a career-high with 15 points for the Gamecocks, while Stacy Booker added 14 points and has now scored in double figures in eight of Carolina’s last 10 games. Georgia’s Tasha Humphrey recorded a double-double, scoring 18 points and grabbing 11 rebounds.
The Gamecocks led most of the first half, but a Georgia basket in the closing seconds tied the game at 29. South Carolina’s defense limited the Bulldogs to just 39.3 percent field-goal shooting (11-of-28) in the first half and Georgia’s 29 points marked its second-lowest halftime total of the year.
Fabbri led the Gamecocks in the first half with seven points, while Iva Sliskovic and Booker added six and five points, respectively. For the Bulldogs, Humphrey scored 10 points and grabbed six boards.
Thursday’s game matched one of the SEC’s best shooting teams in Georgia against one of the top defensive teams in South Carolina. Coming into the game, the Bulldogs averaged 44.8 percent from the field, while the Gamecocks had held their opponents to just 32.9 percent shooting this season.
Six of the Gamecocks’ eight losses this season have come to teams ranked in the top 25, including four in SEC play.
South Carolina’s next contest is Sunday, Jan. 29, at 3 p.m. when it hosts Arkansas at the Colonial Center. The game will be televised on Fox Sports South (Channel 31 on Time Warner Cable in Columbia). The radio broadcast can be heard locally on 1320 WISW AM radio and worldwide via the internet on the official Web site of the Gamecocks, www.uscsports.com.
