‘A signature win’: The significance of the Lady Bulldogs victory at Arkansas

Georgia trailed by seven to No. 21 Arkansas midway through Thursday night’s third quarter. This movie has played out numerous times for the Lady Bulldogs — a strong first half, a chance to grab an important win but falling narrowly short.

Georgia seemed bound to hit the rewind button once more and play it again with a series of careless mistakes. Suddenly, a switch flipped.

The Lady Bulldogs went on a 19-2 run over a span of nearly 10 minutes. Arkansas, loaded with 3-point shooters, couldn’t find a rhythm. Georgia consistently got shots to fall. Along with rebounding and a strong defensive performance (more on that later), Joni Taylor’s team got over the hump.

A 64-55 win over Arkansas at Bud Walton Arena served as the start of a four-game stretch against ranked opponents. Georgia has a while to go in its gauntlet, but a strong start had a sweet feeling.

“It shows that this is the team we are,” said point guard Gabby Connally — also known as “2” — who led the team with 18 points. “This was a signature win for us, especially on the road. It shows what we’re capable of.”

Within those nine minutes, 10 seconds of dominance, Georgia looked special. It’s a quality UGA hasn’t shown, at least for sustained periods, since the 2017-18 season when it appeared as a No. 4 seed in the NCAA tournament. The stifling defense, which has been Taylor’s strength, had a toughness and relentlessness that truly resembled Georgia’s motto of “defense travels.”

Connally joined forces with Que Morrison — who has rediscovered her spark after two injury-riddled seasons — to push the Lady Bulldogs offense with tempo (when needed) and serve as a cohesive complement to the post players.

Arguably the biggest shift, however, was that Georgia looked matured, much unlike in other big-game cases against Baylor, Mississippi State and UCLA. When moments became tense and could’ve led to frantic play, the Lady Bulldogs calmed down.

“It’s really good because they work really hard,” Taylor said. “It instills more confidence in them if they continue to work hard. There’s only one way — keep pushing forward. To come out on the other side of a (result), we’re proud of that.”

Two weeks prior, Georgia faced a rare level of frustration through Taylor’s five seasons as head coach. The Lady Bulldogs searched for answers after a deflating home loss to Vanderbilt. Now, a true belief has returned. Taylor erupted into a smile, emphatically high-fived her players and longtime radio announcer Jeff Dantzler said, “Can you believe this?” as the final buzzer sounded Thursday.

After a few seconds of excitement, Georgia treated the win as any other. The belief is that the win served as a starting point, not a peak.

“We keep reminding ourselves that you can’t get too high or too low,” Taylor said. “…I know they were proud and excited, but they feel capable of doing that as we continue to grow.”

Georgia finds itself in an uphill climb for postseason contention. Consecutive seasons of missing the NCAA tournament is a rarity for the historic Lady Bulldogs’ program, and Taylor prioritizes a return. Georgia’s RPI sat at 86 entering Thursday’s game, and rose to 67 after the victory. A series of home losses to Villanova, Georgia Tech and Vanderbilt hinder the resume, but wins over Arkansas and Virginia Tech are a pair of boosts.

“That provides a spark for us,” Connally said. “If we come to play, every game should look like that in terms of executing.”

Georgia’s schedule remains unforgiving. Its only home contest in a four-game gauntlet comes Sunday against No. 1 South Carolina. The Gamecocks, a freshman-laden group full of talent, has dominated most of its SEC foes thus far. Georgia is aware of the challenge but carries a surge of momentum.

Its hope is to write a different movie ending against the Gamecocks, similar to the one scripted at Arkansas.

“That’s a good win on the road that we for sure needed,” Morrison said. “We’re going to keep pushing. There’s still a point to prove.”

When do the Lady Bulldogs play next?

Who: Georgia (12-7, 3-3 SEC) vs. No. 1 South Carolina (18-1, 6-0 SEC)

When: 3 p.m. Sunday

Where: Stegeman Coliseum, Athens, Georgia

Watch: SEC Network