Jasmine James had a baseline drive with 1:23 to go in overtime and added a free throw with 39 seconds left to give No. 14 Georgia a 49-46 victory over No. 19 LSU on Thursday night.
James finished with 15 points for the Lady Bulldogs (19-4, 6-4 Southeastern Conference), who snapped a three-game losing streak.
``Our defense was terrific,'' Georgia Coach Andy Landers said. ``There are different styles of defense, and right now Georgia and LSU are playing very similar styles. I would characterize those defenses as stingy.''
Allison Hightower had 22 points to lead LSU (15-6, 4-5). Her basket with 4:06 to go in overtime was LSU's only field goal after the 5:02 mark left in regulation.
``We played as hard as we could,'' Lady Tigers coach Van Chancellor said. ``Our defense tonight was the old LSU defense. Georgia struggled to score. We forced 26 turnovers, but we couldn't make a shot. We had 18 more shots than they did, but only hit 27 percent from the field.''
Neither team scored in the last 4 minutes of regulation and the score was tied at 42 heading into the extra period.
Georgia junior Porsha Phillips, who played as a freshman at LSU, scored on a putback with 3:50 to go in overtime and hit two free throws with 2:03 remaining.
Landers said that LSU's defense was so solid that he instructed his guards to freelance with the basketball and hope that the Lady Tigers made a mistake before the 30-second shot clock expired.
``I would rather do that than have to guard them,'' he said.
Landers praised Phillips in particular for her defense.
``She was a one-man zone from the baseline out to 25 feet,'' he said. ``It was uncanny when you looked at how much space she covered, and she never got beat.''
LSU's Katherine Graham hit a pair of free throws with 1:39 to play, tying the score at 46.
