DULUTH – One of the worst seasons in the historic career of Georgia women’s basketball head coach Andy Landers came to an end Saturday.

The Lady Bulldogs (18-14), seeded 11th, fell in the first round of the 2009 NCAA women’s basketball tournament 58-47 to No. 6 seed Arizona State.

The loss marks just the third time Georgia has been defeated in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament in the 27-year history of the championship. Georgia’s 14 defeats this season are the highest total in Landers’ 30 years in Athens.

Behind the play of two-time Pac-10 Defensive Player of the Year Briann January, the Sun Devils (24-8) frustrated the offensive rhythm of the Lady Bulldogs by forcing 19 turnovers. The Pac-10′s premier defensive team held Georgia to its lowest point total ever in an NCAA Tournament game and did not allow any Lady Bulldogs to score in double figures for the first time in Georgia’s NCAA Tournament history.

“We really took away Georgia’s inside game which was obviously our game plan,” Sun Devil head coach Charli Turner Thorne said. “I thought we just played tremendous team defense.”

“I think they hang their hat on their defensive abilities. They were really good there today,” Landers said. “They were also very good rebounding the basketball, particularly in the first half. Those two things gave them the advantage and the momentum midway through the first half that they, for the most part, enjoyed for the entire afternoon.”

Playing just an hour away from Athens, the Lady Bulldogs figured to have a significant edge over their west coast based opponent. Still, Georgia could not find answers for turnover and rebounding problems that have plagued them for a better part of the season as the Lady Bulldogs trailed for all but 50 seconds.

“Personally, I found Arizona State to be the way that they were on [film] and be the team we prepared for,” a disappointed Landers said.

Added guard Angela Puleo: “Our coaches did a great job of preparing us for this game. We knew that they were a great defensive team that they were going to play hard almost 40 minutes. We didn’t step up to the challenge, and I think that was apparent throughout the game.”

On one particular possession early in the first half, Arizona State missed three shots but was able to grab three offensive rebounds before converting a wide open lay-up.

Behind poor rebounding and lackadaisical ball-handling, Georgia was down 25-12 with just under three minutes to play in the first half. Junior Ashley Houts almost single-handedly attempted to put her team back in game as she outscored Arizona State 8-2 for the rest of the first half to give the Lady Bulldogs a glimmer of hope heading into the locker room.

But the Sun Devils’ depth proved too much for Georgia in the second half. Even without the services of top player Dymond Simon (knee injury), Arizona State used a 17-8 run to push its advantage to 44-28 with 10:17 left to play.