Lady Dogs throw a scare into top-ranked South Carolina

A career-high 27 points and SEC-best 13th double-double from Javyn Nicholson nearly led the Georgia women’s basketball to an upset of No. 1 South Carolina, 70-56, Sunday afternoon in front of a national television audience on ABC.

Georgia led by a 35-28 score at the half, the largest halftime deficit that South Carolina has faced this season. The Lady Bulldogs held the advantage for close to 15 minutes of game action, but the Gamecocks used a 22-9 margin the third quarter to hang on for the win.

Nicholson led all scorers in the game with her 27 points and 12 rebounds. She knocked in 10-fo-20 from the field and 7-of-8 from the free-throw line.

“Javyn went to work today,” Georgia head coach Katie Abrahamson-Henderson said. “She is a phenomenal scorer for us who can score in so many different ways. I am really proud of Javyn and really proud of our team for a playing well in a tough environment.”

South Carolina jumped out to an early 12-4 lead, but Georgia countered with a run of its own to knot the score at 17-17 at the end of the first quarter as Asia Avinger finished the first frame with a game-high nine points.

Nicholson exploded for a career-best 18 first-half points. She hit 7-of-10 shots from the field, was a perfect 4-for-4 from the free-throw line and finished the half with eight boards. Nicholson’s effort propelled a 9-0 Georgia run and gave the Lady Bulldogs a 35-28 lead at the half.

The Gamecocks started the third quarter on a 7-0 run as Georgia missed its first six shots in the period. South Carolina outscored Georgia 22-9 in that period, which proved to be the difference in the game down the stretch.

Georgia now travels to Oxford, Miss., to face Ole Miss this Thursday at 7:30 p.m. ET.

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