ATHENS, Ga. (AP) – When the final horn sounded, Kelly Miller
buckled over as if she had been punched in the stomach. Coco Miller
gnawed at her jersey and fought back tears as she trotted off the
court.
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Sunday, March 18
Some people might think that Connecticut, which is in the top half of the East bracket, is looking ahead and happy that Georgia is out after a 78-65 upset loss to Missouri. But Missouri is no joke. This team came out and established a tempo from the start, and became just the third No. 10 seed to beat a No. 2 seed in women's NCAA Tournament history.
What I like most about Missouri was coach Cindy Stein's philosophy. While everyone else tries to slow down the tempo against this very fast Georgia team, the Tigers said, "Bring it on, let's run." And they did, and it effectively took Georgia out of its game.
In the first half, Georgia was winded. Players like Tawana McDonald were asking to come out of the game. What it came down to was Missouri beating the Lady Bulldogs at their own game.
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For Georgia's twin stars, the last college game was a most
stunning loss.
Amanda Lassiter scored 22 points and 10th-seeded Missouri upset
the second-seeded Bulldogs 78-65 Sunday in the second round of
the NCAA East Regional.
The Bulldogs (27-6) felt they deserved a No. 1 seed but
couldn't even get by the subregional on their home court.
Missouri (22-9) snapped Georgia's 24-game winning streak at
Stegeman Coliseum and became the first road team to win an NCAA
game at Athens since 1990.
"The whole team played hard," Coco Miller said, choking with
emotion at the postgame news conference. "It's just too bad it had
to end like this."
The Millers made it to the Final Four as sophomores but never
got back. The Bulldogs were beaten in the regional final a
year ago and then watched Missouri pull away in the second half to
hand Georgia the most surprising NCAA loss in school history.
"I just don't think we were playing up to our potential at
all," said Kelly, a two-time All-American who started all 131
games in her college career. "We never had a great game this
year."
Sitting side-by-side in the locker room, the Millers said it was
too early to ponder the next stage in their lives. They have always
played together – youth leagues, high school, four years at Georgia
– but there's no guarantee they'll wind up on the same team in the
WNBA.
"We haven't really spoken about that," Coco said. "We don't
have to say much. We know what the other one is thinking."
Kelly Miller was held to 11 points on 5-for-16 shooting, while
her sister made only five of 15 attempts for 10 points.
Missouri moved on to the regional semifinals at Pittsburgh,
advancing to the third round for the first time in school history.
"We came in confident, knowing we could compete with Georgia,"
Lassiter said. "We didn't want to seem timid. We wanted to get
them out of their comfort zone and control the tempo."
Lassiter hit four 3-pointers and had seven rebounds and six
steals. Marlena Williams added 19 points for the Tigers, who until
this year had not won an NCAA game since 1986.
"I'm not really big on history myself," coach Cindy Stein
said. "This has more to do with the present. We don't want to be
satisfied with this game."
Missouri led 35-33 at the half and slowly pulled away to a 57-44
lead on Evan Unrau's basket with 8:51 remaining.
Georgia cut the deficit to 57-52, but Williams converted a
three-point play after Lassiter stole an outlet pass off a rebound.
"It was huge," Stein said. "Pep (Williams' nickname) has been
playing like that all year. The prime-time players were on the
floor."
Lassiter followed with a 3-pointer to push the lead back to
double figures and the Bulldogs never got closer than eight
points.
Until this year, Georgia's most shocking home tournament defeat
came 11 years ago to seventh-seeded Arkansas. Overall, the
Bulldogs have lost only three times in 23 NCAA games at Stegeman
Coliseum.
Coincidentally, Georgia also lost to Missouri in the NCAA men's
tournament Thursday.
"Our kids played hard," Bulldogs coach Andy Landers said.
"They probably did the best they could today."
Missouri beat the Bulldogs at their own game, forcing 19
turnovers to set up 23 points. The Tigers did a good job of
handling Georgia's high-intensity, man-to-man defense.
After running and gunning in the first half, Missouri slowed the
pace over the final 20 minutes.
The Tigers repeatedly fooled Georgia with inbound plays and
feeds inside. Missouri also was strong on the boards, collecting 14
offensive rebounds to set up 14 points.
"They beat us to a lot of balls," Landers said. "They made
some hustle plays that I would have liked to have seen our kids
make."
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ALSO SEE
Women's College Basketball Scoreboard
Missouri Clubhouse
Georgia Clubhouse
AUDIO/VIDEO
 The Tigers' Amanda Lassiter makes the nice crossover move for the basket.
avi: 991 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Georgia's Deanna Nolan drains the 3-pointer.
avi: 722 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Missouri's Marlena Williams gets the rebound and the foul.
avi: 848 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Georgia's Coco Miller makes the steal and the layup.
avi: 487 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Missouri's Kerensa Barr dribbles through the defense and scores the layup.
avi: 619 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
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