 |
Not
Again
Frogs’
rally falls short against ‘Dogs’
lhe
women’s basketball team ended its season with a loss
to Georgia in the second round of the NCAA tournament.
By
Dan Gelston
Associated Press
PHILADELPHIA — Christi Thomas’ foul trouble
kept Georgia from rolling to another blowout win. How
she played when she was in the game was still enough to
get the Bulldogs to the regional semifinals.
Thomas had 19 points and 12 rebounds in 27 foul-plagued
minutes to lead Georgia to an 85-71 victory Monday night
over TCU in the second round of the NCAA tournament.
The third-seeded Bulldogs (24-9) advanced to the round
of 16 for the 14th time in 21 NCAA tournament appearances.
Georgia will face Villanova or Purdue in the West Regional
in Seattle.
TCU (25-7) was denied a shot at setting a school record
for wins in a season and lost in the second round for
the fourth straight year. Sandora Irvin led the sixth-seeded
Lady Frogs with 20 points and 10 rebounds, and Tiffany
Evans had 22 points.
The Lady Frogs sliced a 21-point deficit to eight when
Thomas fouled out late in the second half. It took some
sharp shooting late and pressure defense by her teammates
to bail out the Bulldogs.
Jessica Pierce added 18 points, and Janese Hardrick and
Sherill Baker scored 14 points apiece for Georgia.
“We’re playing defense the way we want to play
defense and, for the most part, we’re being effective
with it,” said Georgia coach Andy Landers. “I’m
reasonably pleased with the way we’re playing both
inside and out.”
Landers has 21 tournament appearances, the most by a coach
without a national title.
TCU’s three previous second-round exits came on the
home courts of Louisiana Tech, Duke and Connecticut. It
was the end of an emotional week for the Lady Frogs after
coach Jeff Mittie was arrested for suspicion of drunken
driving.
TCU had hoped the neutral site would help. Instead, it’s
left wondering what it will take to get over the hump
and into the regionals.
“You knock on the door and you need to knock it in
and get there,” Mittie said. “I think we’re
closer, but it is those little plays that we’re not
making right now.”
The 6-foot-5 Thomas controlled the lane with a three-inch
difference on the tallest Lady Frog. She scored 10 early
in the second half to help Georgia build a 19-point lead,
though her aggressiveness inside caused an early exit.
Instead of dominating the rest of the game and helping
the Bulldogs cruise to any easy win, Thomas picked up
four quick fouls in the second half and fouled out with
9:26 left, changing the tempo for TCU.
“We knew at some point they were going to make a
run at us and it just so happened that the time they made
the run was the time I went out,” Thomas said. “It
was the longest 9 minutes of my life. I thought I was
going to have a heart attack, I was grabbing shirts and
everything. This team always ends up on top.”
With Thomas out, the Lady Frogs went on a 10-0 run, getting
a basket and two free throws from Niki Newton and consecutive
3-pointers from Evans. Instead of slowing down the offense,
the Bulldogs ran and forced the ball inside, taking some
poor shots and committing a couple of turnovers.
“About five times in a row we were hurried, rushed
and weren’t really good offensively,” Landers
said. “Other than those possessions, I was pretty
pleased with our offense.”
Still, the Bulldogs shot 47 percent and controlled the
pace with an attacking, fast-breaking offense that led
to 50 points in the paint. Georgia forced 15 turnovers
and pushed Irvin, the niece of former NFL star Michael
Irvin, out of her comfort zone inside and to the perimeter.
Irvin shot 7-for-14, but the Lady Frogs were never able
to have a consistent presence in the lane.
TCU got as close as 77-68 after an Irvin 3-pointer with
2:18 remaining, but Georgia scored five straight points
to seal the win and give the Lady Frogs another subregional
loss. |
|
|
|
|
Ron
Cortes/Philadelphia Inquirer
|
| Senior
guard Ebony Shaw holds back tears as she sits next
to head coach Jeff Mittie during the NCAA Tournament
game Monday night in Philadelphia’s Liacouras
Center. |
|
|
