Lady Bulldogs Turner 3 Seals Big Comeback Win

When the ball left her hands, it looked good all the way. When it swished through the net as time expired Thursday night at Stegeman Coliseum, Trinity Turner was immediately mobbed by her celebrating Georgia women's basketball teammates.

This hasn't been the start to the season the Lady Bulldogs wanted — they're 9-8 overall and 1-2 in SEC play — but previous performances and results are forgotten in moments of pure joy. And this was about as pure as it gets: a game-winning 3-pointer from the left wing as time expired to pull off a come-from-behind win over Missouri, 74-72.

"It's amazing to be able to do that," said Turner, a 5-foot-6 freshman guard from Orlando. "My first time (hitting a game-winner at Georgia), and my teammates trusted me — so amazing."

Before that perfect 3, Turner had hit a bunch of floaters in the lane but missed her first eight 3-point attempts. But she made the one that mattered most.

"Like my teammates said, (the misses) don't matter as long as I made the last one," Turner said with a big smile.

And she did, capping a heck of a night: Turner finished with 18 points, seven rebounds and seven assists. She also capped a heck of a rally for the Lady Bulldogs, who trailed 60-46 with 9:42 left in the game.

Georgia started the game red-hot on offense, pouring in shots from near and far. Turner's game-winning 3 was her second buzzer-beat of the game; she hit a floater at the end of the first quarter to give the Lady Bulldogs a 27-21 lead.

The second quarter couldn't have been more different. Missouri (11-7, 0-3) dominated the period, going on a 20-2 run over the final 7:49 to take a 43-33 lead into halftime. Georgia missed 14 of its last 15 shots to end the quarter, but coach Katie Abrahamson-Henderson's halftime message was more about defense than offense.

"I think we're a better scoring team this year, to be honest, but we just had to lock in and play defense," Coach ABE said. "And we did. They scored 14 and 15 in the third and fourth quarter."

Georgia was able to cut the lead to 51-45 after a short Turner jumper with 2:01 left in the third, but Missouri hit a pair of 3s to push its lead back to double figures entering the fourth. The Tigers hit another 3 to open the final period and give Mizzou its largest lead of the game, 60-46. But the Lady Bulldogs kept battling.

A 3 from Asia Avinger and a layup by Miyah Verse cut the lead to nine. After a De'Mauri Flournoy 3 with 1:38 to play — and more from Avinger and Flournoy in a moment — Georgia trailed by only a point, 68-67.

"Everybody was just continuing to say 'Fight! Fight! We're going to win this game.' And that's what happened," said Flournoy, the 5-8 senior guard who hit five 3s and led the Bulldogs with 19 points.

Following two Missouri free throws with 17 seconds left that put the Tigers up 72-68, Flournoy hit a step-back 3 to make it a one-point game with 9 seconds left. After the Tigers called a timeout to move the ball up to their end for their inbounds pass, the Lady Bulldogs quickly forced a jump ball — and the possession arrow was pointing Georgia's way.

The Lady Bulldogs didn't have any timeouts left, so Coach ABE directed the offense on the go, sending Flournoy and Mia Woolfolk over to the right side, with Verse trailing on the play. Avinger brought the ball up and drove toward the middle before firing the ball to Turner on the left wing with about 3 seconds left.

"(Missouri) came off Trinity because Asia was going to try to get the basket," Coach ABE said. "So they came off Trinity just for a second and she got that 3. I mean, I'm shocked it went in, actually, but I'm glad it did. And De'Mauri's 3 was huge."

The win was also huge for Georgia, which hosts Mississippi State on Sunday. This is a very young team — three freshmen started and scored a combined 32 points, and another, Woolfolk, had 9 points and eight rebounds in 26 minutes — and they're learning on the fly.

"The good thing about them is they're playing through all these hard times," Coach ABE said. "Freshmen don't get to play (much), usually, and our freshmen are playing. I think (Verse) is getting so much better. ... We're taking some licks. We're winning some, losing some — but I just really think this is great for their morale."

Verse, a 6-1 redshirt freshman forward, finished with 10 points, four rebounds and three blocked shots. It was her fourth straight game scoring in double figures. Verse said earlier this week that her favorite thing to do on a basketball court was "celebrating with my teammates. I find joy in other people's joy, especially my teammates'."

There was plenty of joy at the end Thursday after Turner's perfect 3.

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-- By Jessica Perry

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