Georgia absorbed every blow Missouri dealt Thursday night at Verizon Arena in North Little Rock.
Now the No. 10 seeded Bulldogs get a chance to keep their hopes of another NCAA Tournament appearance alive.
Tiara Griffin scored 21 points and Erika Ford had 14 as Georgia outlasted several Missouri runs in a 75-64 second-round victory in the SEC Tournament.
Georgia led by as much as 28-17 in the first half, but Missouri pulled to within 32-27 by halftime. The Tigers pulled to within two points three times in the second half and were as close as 40-39 with 11:52 left, but Georgia had an answer for every rally.
"Staying the course," Griffin said. "We all came together. We all knew what we had to do. Just stick it out and keep our composure and just make plays when we have to."
Griffin, who had 13 points in the second half, ended Missouri's final rally with a jumper with 3:42 left that gave Georgia a 58-54 lead. It sparked an 8-0 run and Missouri, which had one starter foul out and another suffer a head injury, couldn't make put together last run.
Krista Donald added 13 points and 15 rebounds for Georgia (19-11), while Mackenzie Ingram added 11 points. The Bulldogs shot 39.0 percent, made 26 of 29 free throws and scored 21 second-chance points off 16 offensive rebounds.
Georgia got 13 points and 15 rebounds from Krista Donald, and 11 points form Mckenzie Ingram.
"When things weren't going well we stayed the course," said Georgia Coach Andy Landers, whose team entered the tournament with its lowest seed since the tournament began seeding teams in 1983. "Our players in the second half, by and large, made a lot of plays. They didn't run a lot of plays, they made a lot of plays, which I've found through the years you have to do at tournament time in order to be successful."
Missouri (17-13) eventually ran out of players and had its four-game winning streak snapped.
Sierra Michaelis scored a career-high 29 points on 10-of-21 shooting, but that wasn't enough to make up for Jordan Frericks' foul trouble or the loss of point guard Lindsey Cunningham. Frericks, Missouri's leading scorer at 13.6 points per game, finished with 5 points in 22 minutes after fouling out with 10:53 left.
Cunningham, who finished with six points and four rebounds, left the game after banging her head on the floor with 7:17 left.
"Jordan is such a huge part of what we do, and Lindsey brings a lot of the intangibles," Missouri Coach Robin Pingeton said. "With that being said, I did think we still had enough on the court."
Georgia will play Tennessee with hopes of improving its resume while in pursuit of a 21st consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance.
"We know that if we win the next game we're in good shape," Landers said. "If we don't beat Missouri we're cooked. We're crock-pot cooked. Now, we got us another good one to play. Win it, take care of business, that's all that matters."
Sports on 03/06/2015