Katie Abrahamson-Henderson critical of Georgia's early showing vs. Kentucky

Following a first quarter that didn’t end so well for her team, Georgia head coach Katie Abrahamson-Henderson explained what needed to go right for the Bulldogs to get back on track vs. Kentucky in the opening round of the SEC Tournament.

UGA had jumped out to a quick 8-2 lead behind some early buckets from star forward Javyn Nicholson, but the Dawgs largely proved to be ineffective beyond her as the Wildcats were able to erase their deficit with a 19-6 run to end the quarter, punctuated by a Kentucky 3-pointer just before the first quarter buzzer which left the score at 21-14.

At the break, Abrahamson-Henderson was asked what went wrong to end the first period. She answered:

“Well, I see them making shots and us missing shots down at the other end. So, us missing shots is them coming down and getting some easy open looks, we got to guard them better.”

Specifically, she was asked what led to the Georgia offense stalling out in the final five minutes or so. “We got to get more people to make baskets than Javyn,” Abrahamson-Henderson responded. “So, we got to step up.”

Nicholson scored three baskets and assisted two others for Georgia’s first 10 points but was held in check for the rest of the quarter after that as Kentucky did a terrific job forcing other players to beat them.

Rebounding key for Kentucky first half lead

By Dan Morrison

he Kentucky Wildcats jumped out to a 36-22 halftime lead over the Georgia Bulldogs during the first round of the SEC Women’s Basketball Tournament. A key piece of that early lead was forward Ajae Petty, who had eight points in the first 20 minutes.

Petty spoke to the SEC Network going into halftime, explaining that slowing the pace down was what allowed her and the Kentucky offense to find success against Georgia.

“Just recognizing how they’re playing me,” Ajae Petty. “You know, they’re bringing the double sometimes and I’m bringing it. So, just slowing down and watch how they’re playing on me.”

One of the biggest reasons that Kentucky controlled the first half was their edge rebounding the ball, with the Wildcats snagging 26 rebounds to only 13 that Georgia was able to grab. That’s something that started with being aggressive against the Bulldogs’ best offensive players, according to Petty.

“Just being aggressive, moving around a lot,” Ajae Petty said. “Just making sure that the players that usually go for a lot of points aren’t touching the ball.”

Ajae Petty ended the first half with eight points and nine rebounds to go along with an assist.