ATHENS, Ga. – Taking on another power conference foe, the Belmont University women's basketball team battled Southeastern Conference stalwart Georgia in a 66-55 loss at Stegeman Coliseum in Athens, Georgia, Saturday afternoon. Against one of the best rebounding teams in the nation, the Bruins (3-7) outworked the Bulldogs (10-2) on the glass (32-31) but were hampered by season-high 25 turnovers.
Defensive-minded Georgia scored 27 points off Belmont's offensive miscues and held a 30-20 advantage in the paint. The Bulldogs got 30 of their 66 points off the bench and held the lead from late in the second quarter until the final buzzer.
The Bruins jumped out to a seven-point lead early with an 11-0 run over a three-minute stretch. A pair of three-pointers from junior guard
Destinee Wells, a three by senior guard
Nikki Baird and a layup by junior forward
Madison Bartley gave Belmont an 11-4 lead four-and-a-half minutes in.
Georgia, however, outpaced the Bruins 11-4 the remainder of the opening quarter as another layup from Bartley evened the score at 15 heading into the second 10 minutes of action.
After starting the game 6-for-12 from the field and 3-for-5 from beyond the arc, Belmont was cooled off in the second quarter. The Bulldogs put together a 7-0 run to build an eight-point lead at 30-22 with just under two minutes to go in the first half. Outscoring the Bruins 17-9 in the second quarter, Georgia led 32-24 at the break.
The Bulldogs shot 50 percent (8-of-16) in the second quarter and limited Belmont to three made field goals, going 15-for-36 (41.7 percent) from the floor in the first half. The Bruins had 10 turnovers at the half and were 39.1 percent (9-of-23) from field after going 4-for-10 from outside.
Forcing eight Belmont turnovers in the quarter, Georgia shot 58.3 percent (7-of-12) in the third to mount a 10-point lead heading into the final period.
An 8-3 start to the third quarter gave the Bulldogs a 13-point, 40-27 lead. With just under three minutes left in the third, Georgia leading scorer Diamond Battles connected on a three to give the hosts their largest lead of the afternoon at 45-30. Sparked by a triple from graduate guard
Sydni Harvey, the Bruins went on a 7-0 run over the ensuing two minutes of play. The Bulldogs got a layup from Malury Bates before the end of the quarter to take a 47-37 advantage into the fourth.
Another trey by Harvey made it a seven-point game at 49-42 with seven minutes to go and Belmont got within six with three-and-a-half minutes left. Wells' triple with 3:33 remaining made it 56-50, but it would be the closest the Bruins would get the rest of the way.
Georgia held Belmont without a basket for nearly two minutes of play before a Harvey layup got the Bruins within eight at 60-52 with 1:36 remaining. Five-straight points from the Bulldogs' Battles and a free throw by Bates pushed Georgia's lead to 66-52. Sophomore guard
Kilyn McGuff nailed a deep wing three-pointer in the closing seconds.
The Bulldogs shot 53.8 percent (7-of-13) in the fourth quarter as Belmont went 6-for-14 (42.9 percent) from the field and 3-for-8 (37.5 percent) from long range.
Despite committing 15 second-half turnovers, the Bruins outrebounded Georgia 17-10 in the second half. The Bulldogs shot 56 percent (14-of-25) across the final 20 minutes and Belmont 44 percent (11-of-25), going 5-for-14 (35.7 percent) from three-point land.
Shooting 41.7 percent (20-of-48) from the floor for the game, the Bruins assisted on 16 of their 20 made field goals and hit nine of their 24 three-point attempts (37.5 percent).
Georgia finished 47.5 percent (29-of-61) overall from the field and was 2-for-10 from distance.
Bartley led a trio of double-figure Belmont scorers with 13 points and six rebounds on 6-for-9 shooting off the bench. Wells scored 12 on 3-for-7 outside shooting and distributed a season-high seven assists. Harvey scored all 11 of her points in the second half and collected five boards.
Battles led the Bulldogs with a game-best 24 points on 9-for-13 shooting and Javyn Nicholson had 12 points and a team-high seven rebounds off the bench.
Of Note
Seven of the Bruins' first 10 games this season have been played away from home. Georgia was the fourth team Belmont has faced this season that won at least one game in last year's NCAA Tournament. The Bulldogs improve to 5-0 all-time versus the Bruins. Saturday marked Belmont's first trip back to Stegeman Coliseum since the 2018 NCAA Tournament where the 23rd-ranked and 12th-seeded Bruins faced fifth-seeded and 20th-ranked Duke in the first round.
Up Next
Belmont returns to Nashville Tuesday for a midweek matinee Christmas matchup with Troy. Tipoff of the non-conference finale is set for 1 p.m. The game will be broadcast on
ESPN+ from the Curb.
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