Feb. 17, 2000
By STEVE BAILEY
AP Sports Writer
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Georgia’s Kelly Miller wasn’t about to leaveKentucky’s home floor with a loss for the second straight year.
The junior guard scored a game-high 23 points to lead the No. 3 LadyBulldogs past the Wildcats 73-69 on Thursday night.
Miller was 9-for-14 from the field, including 2-of-4 from 3-point range, asGeorgia (25-2, 10-1 Southeastern Conference) won its 11th straight game andavenged last season’s 80-76 loss at Memorial Coliseum.
“Kelly Miller came through big for them,” Kentucky coach Bernadette Mattoxsaid. “She made shots falling down, falling back and falling over.”
Despite Miller’s heroics, it took two free throws by Deana Nolan with nineseconds to play to finally end any hopes of a Kentucky comeback.
The Wildcats (12-11, 4-7) trailed by as many as 14 points in the secondhalf, but cut the deficit to two with 58 seconds to play. Following CocoMiller’s miss, Erica Jackson drove to the baseline but stepped out of boundswith 11 seconds remaining.
“In know Erica didn’t just jump out of bounds,” Mattox said. “I knowthere was a bump down there. I just don’t know if it was big enough to draw afoul.”
Nolan then hit two free throws with nine seconds to play to seal the gamefor the Lady Bulldogs, who are one victory away from equaling theirregular-season record.
Nolan finished with 14 points, making 5-of-10 shots, and had a game-high sixassists.
“We’ve got big play people who show up and make big plays,” Georgia coachAndy Landers said. “They’ve done that all year. And the great thing is, itsnot just one person.”
Jackson scored 19 points to lead Kentucky. Tiffany Wait had 15 and LauraMeadows added 11 for the Wildcats, who have lost six of their last seven games.
Kentucky trailed most of the game. But every time the Wildcats got hot andmade a run, Kelly Miller was there to throw water on the fire.
Trailing 38-25 at halftime, Kentucky opened the second half with a 9-2 runto cut the margin to 40-34. Kelly Miller’s steal and layup followed by a jumpshot in traffic pushed the lead back to 46-38 with 14:42 to play.
Georgia took its biggest lead of the game, 58-44, on Kelly Miller’s3-pointer midway through the second half. A 10-2 run, capped by back-to-back3-pointers by Wait and Jackson, again cut the margin to only six at 60-54.
Kelly Miller hit another 3-pointer on Georgia’s next possession to increasethe margin to nine with 7:22 to play.
The Lady Bulldogs led 69-62 with 2:40 to play, but Kentucky again foughtback and pulled within 71-69 on Jackson’s steal and layup with 58 seconds toplay.
The Wildcats got the ball back with 35 seconds left for a chance to tie thegame, but Jackson’s turnover on the baseline put a quick stop to the rally.
“We were determined to stop them on that last possession,” Kelly Millersaid. “I think we did a great job doing that.”
Georgia shot 52 percent for the game (30-of-58) and scored 23 points off 21Kentucky turnovers. The Wildcats shot only 43 percent (25-of-58) but made5-of-9 from 3-point range and 14-of-17 free throws.
