It took a while, but eventually Georgia’s women’s basketball team was able to put away Mississippi State thanks to an impressive burst midway through the second half, capturing a 70-60 victory on Thursday night.

The No. 21 Lady Dogs (17-6, 6-4 SEC) saw a 10-point halftime lead slip away as MSU opened the second half on a 14-4 run keyed by Kendra Grant, who scored six points in the run while exposing Georgia’s defense.

MEREDITH MITCHELL

Both Georgia head coach Andy Landers and senior guard Meredith Mitchell said that remaining calm and tightening up the defense was important to the Lady Dogs halting Mississippi State’s momentum.

“Everyone for the most part remained calm and we just had to focus more on the things we were doing well tonight and just stick with it,” Mitchell said. “We knew that if we put forth all our effort on defense good things were going to happen.”

Landers was pleased that the team refocused after the visitors had taken advantage of the home team.

“Any time you have a lead — and we had a big lead at one point — and they come back and catch [you], it’s great to see your team respond,” Landers said. “We did that starting on the defensive end. [We] made stops and while we were making stops, we forced a couple of turnovers, and here we go again.”

After Martha Alwal tied the score at 40-40, Georgia went back to what it does best as they upped the tempo and were able to convert points in transition responding with a 15-0 run.

Sophomore Khaalidah Miller hit a 3-point shot and also converted on a 3-point play after being fouled on an impressive drive to the basket.

She said the balance of her point scoring was due to her taking a slightly different approach to her offensive game.

“I was taking a lot of the same shots but I was also penetrating more this game just trying to get to rim and get to the free-throw line,” Miller said. “Coach told me I never get to the free-throw line, so I had to do it at least once tonight and I did.”

Georgia continued to turn the screw as the half went on adding to their lead with contributions from Miller, Jasmine Hassell, Meredith Mitchell and Anne Marie Armstrong.

Mitchell, who handled the majority of the point guard duties for the fifth game in a row, began to look more impressive as the game went on, with a stand out move with 3:55 remaining that left her defender behind as she laid the ball in.

“[I] feel good about the way Miller shot the basketball, feel great about the way Meredith played at the point, thought Hassell was good in an oversized situation, thought Anne Marie can shoot it better than she did but she had five assists and eight rebounds,” Landers said. “She really facilitates and makes her team better.”

Mitchell said that during the second half the team was able to execute effectively on both sides of the basketball.

“We just knew we had to value our possessions more. We knew we had to execute on offense and get some turnovers on the defensive side,” Mitchell said. “Get the ball back and even possibly get some transition lay-ups.”

Having averaged 38 minutes per game over the last four contests, Mitchell was the only Lady Dog to play the entire game.

“It always feels good to get a win under your belt,” Mitchell said. “But it was messy and it wasn’t always pretty, but we were just glad that we could get another plus on the win side.”