STARKVILLE, Miss. — Despite three players in double figures, led by a team-high 18 points and seven rebounds from Javyn Nicholson, the Georgia Lady Bulldogs lost to the Mississippi State Bulldogs, 76-57, Thursday evening at Humphrey Coliseum.
Nicholson has now reached double figures in scoring in 22 of 23 games this season. Taniyah Thompson added 11 points, while De’Mauri Flournoy and Asia Avinger added 10 a piece.
Georgia returns home to host Vanderbilt at noon ET Sunday inside Stegeman Coliseum. It will be a special day in Athens, as the Lady Bulldogs pay tribute to their 1999 NCAA Final Four Team. The first 500 fans in attendance will receive a free Final Four t-shirt.
On Thursday, State hit six of its first eight shots from the field and built an early 12-10 lead in the first quarter. Nicholson quieted a 9-0 MSU run, sinking a 19-foot jumper to cut the damage to 21-14.
The State Bulldogs finished the first quarter shooting a blistering 65-percent from the field, but two Flournoy free-throws with .3 seconds on the clock kept Georgia close at 23-19 at the end of the first period.
Georgia got within two points in the second frame, but Avinger picked up her second foul, and the Lady Bulldogs allowed State to go on a 7-0 run. MSU’s Jerkaila Jordan led the home team with 11 points help Mississippi State build a 39-30 halftime lead.
Nicholson heated up in the second half, scoring eight points in the first five minutes of the third quarter to cut State’s lead to 45-38. That was as close as Georgia would get the rest of the way as MSU beat the Lady Bulldogs, 76-57.
