Staiti leads Georgia to second round of NCAA Tournament

AMES, Iowa — Behind 19 points from Jenna Staiti and a career-high 15 from freshman Jillian Hollingshead, the sixth-seeded University of Georgia Lady Bulldogs basketball team (21-9, 9-7 SEC) defeated the No. 11 seed Dayton Flyers, (26-6, 14-1 A10) at Hilton Coliseum Friday night.

Georgia advances to play either No. 3 seed Iowa State or No. 14 seed UT Arlington on Sunday in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Game time will be announced later.

Hollingshead’s night marks the most points for a freshman in the NCAA Tournament since 2013, when Shacobia Barbee notched 20 against Iowa State.

“Dayton is a really good team,” said head coach Joni Taylor. “They do a really good job of stretching you. They’re really good and they’ve been really good for a long time. In terms of what we looked like, I thought we did a really good job of locking in and trying to take away what they do well. They have three dynamic guards; we did a good job of frustrating them and making it tough. I thought we did a really good job of being aggressive when we didn’t make shots and winning offensive rebounds, giving ourselves second chance opportunities and to get to the free throw line. That’s something we talked about a lot.”

Despite struggling to find the rim early, the Bulldogs were down by just two at the first media timeout. Staiti found the basket off a Flyer turnover followed by Que Morrison increasing Georgia’s lead, 15-11, with a fast break layup. The Flyers’ offense persisted, but the Lady Dogs locked down and kept the lead, 19-17 in the first quarter.

An 8-2 run highlighted the second quarter for Georgia. Hollingshead put away three shots alongside a Morrison layup. The Lady Dogs went on to score 12 more points and collected 14 total boards to finish the half up by 10, 41-31. Hollingshead led the offensive drive for the Lady Dogs, tallying 10 points in the second quarter alone.

Rallying after a two-and-a-half minute scoring drought, Staiti pulled Georgia back with a 6-0 run before the first media timeout. The Lady Dogs battled to keep their advantage over Dayton, matching their two three-pointers with a 6-0 run from Morrison, Staiti, and Hollingshead. A fastbreak layup from Chloe Chapman kept the Lady Dogs ahead, 56-46 heading into the fourth quarter.

Georgia jumped to a quick 15-point lead with contributions from Hollingshead, Morrison and Malury Bates. After drawing a Dayton foul, the Lady Bulldogs finished the final quarter scoring seven more points. A free throw from Chapman sealed the 70-54 win

The Lady Bulldogs will face either No. 3 Iowa State or No. 14 UT Arlington on Sunday, March 20.