No. 8 Georgia 75, Georgia Southern 71

11/21/2006 10:16 PM

By HARRY ATKINS
AP Sports Writer

STATESBORO, Ga. (AP) -Georgia coach Andy Landers doesn't agree with the Lady Bulldogs' ranking. He thinks they're too highly regarded.

Angel Robinson scored 13 of her 18 points in the second half and the No. 8 Lady Bulldogs held on for a 75-71 win over Georgia Southern on Tuesday night.

``You know, it's early in the season,'' Landers said. ``Teams change from week to week at this time. And we're not that good. We're really not.''

Georgia (4-0), which twice trailed by eight points in the first half, was down 69-68 with 2:41 left in the game. But Megan Darrah had a three-point play and a free throw down the stretch to help the Lady Bulldogs avoid the upset.

``I know Coach wasn't pleased,'' said Robinson, whose layup on a nifty feed from Cori Chambers gave Georgia a 73-69 lead with 1:29 left. ``We have to be patient right now. It's early in the season and we have a lot of new players.''

Tiffany Brown had 18 points for Georgia Southern (1-4), which has lost four straight. The Lady Eagles made 13 of 30 3-pointers to tie the record for most 3s ever scored against Georgia, matching Santa Clara last season and Eastern Kentucky in 1990.

Georgia was just 5-of-12 from 3-point range in a game that featured 13 lead changes. But the Lady Bulldogs made 16 of 26 free throws, a big advantage over Georgia Southern's 2-for-6 performance at the line.

``You just get better in games like this,'' Lady Eagles coach Rusty Cram said. ``I don't believe you can get better unless you play better teams.''

Cram, whose team missed the Southern Conference playoffs for just the fourth time in his 11-year tenure last season, started two freshmen. One of them, Carolyn Whitney, opened the game with a 3-pointer and finished with 10 points.

``Oh, gosh, this would have been like a dream come true,'' Whitney said. ``I've dreamed about beating Georgia all my life.''

This was the 28th meeting in the series, and Georgia's first visit to Statesboro since 2003. The teams last met Nov. 30, 2004, in Athens where the then-No. 6 Lady Bulldogs earned a 61-50 win.

Chambers, who came in leading Georgia with 19.3 points per game, was held to 11 by Georgia Southern's pesky defense.

``This was all on us,'' Robinson said. ``No team should affect the way we play. Mentally, we have to be ready every game.''

Janese Marshall scored 15 points, and Rebecca Rowsey and Ashley Houts had 11 apiece for the Lady Bulldogs.

Ashley Rivens added 13 points for Georgia Southern and reserve Ashley Melson finished with 11.

Georgia put together a 9-0 run in the first half to take a 29-28 lead at the 5:07 mark.

But the Lady Eagles, taking advantage of turnovers and getting 3s from Jessica Geiger and Rivens, bounced back to a grab 38-35 lead at halftime.

The Lady Bulldogs have had to scrap hard to maintain their unbeaten record in the early part of the season. Houts and Hardrick each scored 18 points as the Lady Bulldogs overcame a late rally by then-No. 12 Rutgers for a 78-69 win last week. And it took 25 points from Chambers to fashion a comeback win over unranked Davidson last Sunday.

And things don't get any easier. The Lady Bulldogs return to Athens where, after a Thanksgiving break, they will host No. 11 Stanford on Sunday.

``I'm very excited about Stanford,'' Robinson said. ``That why you want to play.''