The Georgia women’s basketball team’s level of play has swung between extremes without spending much time in the middle this year.
The Lady Bulldogs have performed somewhere between well to outstanding much of the season. But those times when the team didn’t execute well, it looked awful.
“When we play well, everybody is making shots,” Georgia guard Jasmine James said. “But when we’re not making shots, it seems like nobody really is. It like it’s either going to be a 70-point game or a 30-point game.
“I don’t know if we’ve had one that’s been anywhere in the middle. We’ve done a really good job this past week of everybody being in the gym and putting up extra shots at game-like speed. We need to make sure that when we are in those situations in games that we can knock those shots down. We’ve seen glimpses of how good we can be but we’ve also seen glimpses of how bad we can be.”
Georgia’s two games in the Southeastern Conference tournament featured both ends of the offensive spectrum. The Lady Bulldogs crushed LSU 71-53 in the quarterfinals. They had a five-point halftime lead against Kentucky in the semifinals before scoring 14 points in the second half and losing by 22. Like most of the season, Georgia played more good offensive halves (three) than bad ones (one).
“The good thing is we look good most of the time,” Georgia coach Andy Landers said. “We’ve been really positive since the SEC tournament. We really haven’t even talked about Kentucky. We intend to continue to be that way, get our prep right and get ready to roll.”
Hassell to be offensive focus
Jasmine Hassell, a 6-foot-2 senior forward, has been Georgia’s most consistent scorer and shooter all season. She averages a team-high 12.9 points and 6.5 rebounds. She is shooting 54.3 percent from the field.
“We’ve got to make sure we get the ball to Jaz (Hassell),” Georgia guard Khaalidah Miller said. “She’s playing great down there in the post and she’s been about the only one that hasn’t been really up-and-down in shooting.
“We’ve got to keep feeding the ball to her down
low and let her go to
work.”
In Georgia’s SEC tournament semifinal loss to Kentucky, Hassell scored 15 points in the first half, which was more than the 14 points Georgia totaled as a team in the second half. Hassell finished the game with 17 points.
Georgia looks to bury memories
Georgia played one of its most dreadful offensive halves of the season in the 60-38 loss to Kentucky in the SEC tournament. Georgia scored just 14 points and hit just 20.7 percent from the field in the second half against the Wildcats.
“Looking back on the (Southeastern Conference) Tournament, we go out in the LSU game and we play very well,” James said. “We shot the ball very well and just played well together as a team. Then we come out in the Kentucky game and basically do the complete opposite.
“We don’t knock shots down and we don’t play well. One of the things he (Landers) has made us realize is that’s just a lack of focus. We just have to do a really good job of making sure in the NCAA Tournament that we’re focused and we’re holding each other accountable.”