Georgia stumbles in back-and-forth battle vs. Iowa
IOWA CITY, Ia. - The No. 10 seeded University of Georgia women's basketball team dropped a SCORE decision to No. 2 seeded Iowa in the Second Round of the NCAA Women's Basketball Championship at Carver-Hawkeye Arena on Sunday afternoon.
Fifth-year Diamond Battles led Georgia in scoring with 21 points. Fifth-year Brittney Smith and senior Javyn Nicholson followed with 12 points each. Senior Alisha Lewis had a team-leading 10 assists, and Jordan Isaacs led down low with 10 rebounds.
Georgia grabbed a quick 4-0 lead before Iowa knotted the score at eight and used a 7-0 run to build a 12-8 lead. Five points from Battles and a layup from Lewis gave the Lady Bulldogs a two-point advantage, but the Hawkeyes responded with nine points of their own to lead 19-17 at the close of the first quarter.
Four triples from the Hawkeyes extended Iowa's lead to 10 to start the second frame. A jumper from B. Smith and a pair of free throws from Nicholson cut Iowa's lead to four points with four minutes remaining in the half. A triple from Lewis capped a 9-0 run for the Lady Bulldogs to give Georgia a 35-34 lead. Iowa took a 41-40 lead after adding seven points to the board into the locker room at the half.
A pair of Isaacs free throws and a layup from junior Zoesha Smith tied the board at 46 midway through the third quarter. Back-to-back Nicholson layups gave the Lady Bulldogs a 52-51 lead. The Hawkeyes used seven uncontested points to end the third frame leading 58-54.
A 6-2 run from Iowa started the final quarter as the Hawkeyes led by eight. With less than three minutes left, Audrey Warren ripped a triple to put the Lady Bulldogs within two points, 68-66. Six Iowa points concluded the game as the Hawkeyes led 74-66.