LSU 47, No. 20 Georgia 41

LSU 47, No. 20 Georgia 41

Published Jan. 31, 2011 2:34 a.m. ET

Defense is always a constant for Georgia and LSU.

Katherine Graham had 14 points and Adrienne Webb added 11 and LSU held off No. 20 Georgia 47-41 on Sunday.

Jasmine Hassell led Georgia with 16 points. The loss dropped Georgia (16-5, 6-2 SEC) into a second-place conference tie with No. 17 Kentucky.

LSU (15-8, 5-4) started out cold in the second half, missing 17 of its first 19 shots. The Lady Tigers' drought allowed Georgia to close to 31-30 on a basket by Jasmine James.

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The Lady Bulldogs had several chances to tie or take the lead, but failed to convert.

Georgia still had a chance trailing 43-38 with a minute left, but Graham drove the baseline for a basket and Webb made a pair of free throws to seal the victory.

Both teams shot 29 percent for the game. LSU had 18 offensive rebounds that contributed to its win.

''They get the offensive board 18 times and we have to repeat our defensive effort 18 times,'' Georgia coach Andy Landers said. ''That's it. That to me was the way the game played out.''

The previous time Georgia and LSU met a year ago, the game went to overtime and the teams still couldn't break 50 points. Georgia won 49-46.

Georgia's 41 points tied for its fewest in an SEC game and marked its lowest scoring output in any game since a 73-36 loss to Stanford in the 2010 NCAA regional semifinals.

''I wasn't pleased with our enthusiasm and energy,'' Landers said. ''That concerns me greatly. They jumped on us and we never got it back.''

LSU bolstered its NCAA tournament resume and got its second win over a ranked opponent. The Lady Tigers won 55-53 at then-No. 8 UCLA on Dec. 28, but was coming off a 53-45 loss Thursday to Arkansas.

''We didn't turn the ball over,'' LSU coach Van Chancellor said. ''We didn't come out and foul. We didn't give up second-chance points. We did all we could do.

''Against Arkansas we didn't do all we could. I wasn't a happy camper.''

Chancellor made sure his team knew that.

''Coach has been on us pretty hard,'' said LSU's LaSondra Barrett, who tied a career high with 12 rebounds. ''We felt bad about the loss to Arkansas, and as team we got together and decided we need to play and play hard.''

LSU led 27-21 at halftime as Georgia managed just eight field goals and committed nine turnovers.

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