UGA Women’s Basketball: Georgia Beats Coastal Carolina in Season Opener, 78-61

ATHENS – Three double-digit scorers fueled the Georgia Lady Bulldog basketball team (1-0) past Coastal Carolina (0-1), 78-61, in the 2022-23 season opener Monday evening in Stegeman Coliseum. This marks the first win for the Lady Bulldogs with Georgia head coach Katie Abrahamson-Henderson at the helm.

Georgia has won 17-straight season openers and improves to 1-0 on the season. The Lady Bulldogs improve to 41-9 in season-opening games.

Senior Javyn Nicholson led the Lady Bulldogs in scoring with 14 points, going 6-for-10 from the field, followed by fifth-years Diamond Battles with 13 and Brittney Smith with 12, respectively. Nicholson led Georgia in the paint with nine rebounds.

“It was awesome just walking out,” Coach ABE said. “I was really impressed with the student section, the Spike Squad, the cheerleaders and everybody else. I saw them before the game in the student section so that was really cool to see. Hopefully they’ll continue to come every game and hopefully they liked that press. Obviously, we’re going to get better and everything, but it was kind of cool to kind of look around, but I couldn’t figure out where the scoreboard was. So, it was a little weird for me, but it was great.”

Nicholson got the Lady Bulldogs rolling with a jumper off the tip followed by a layup to make it 4-0 early. The Lady Bulldogs maintained a 13-6 lead with 4:57 left in the first. A buzzer beater from Coastal Carolina ended the first quarter with Georgia leading 20-16.

Nicholson opened the second quarter with a layup to power a 6-0 scoring run for the Lady Bulldogs. A layup from Jordan Issacs extended Georgia’s lead to 20-10 at the 5:38 mark. The Lady Bulldogs used a 4-0 scoring run to finish the first half. A jumper outside the paint and a pair of free throws from Battles fueled Georgia’s 40-24 lead heading into the second half.

Coastal Carolina opened the second half with a bucket in the paint. Georgia responded with an Audrey Warren basket from inside. A 6-1 run in the middle of the third quarter helped the Lady Bulldogs maintain their lead, 48-35, with 4:05 left in the quarter. With two minutes remaining in the quarter, the Lady Bulldogs outscored the Chanticleers 9-3 to hold the lead, 64-43.

Senior Chloe Chapman kicked off the scoring for Georgia in the final quarter with an assist from Zoesha Smith. Georgia used eight points in the final five minutes, fueled by a six-point fourth quarter performance from Smith to claim the victory.

Next up for the Lady Bulldogs is a match-up with Alabama State on Thursday, Nov. 10 at 7 p.m. in Stegeman Coliseum. Coverage will be on SEC Network+.