The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT

Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

A SEASON of highlights continues for Shanea Armbrister as she takes on a larger role for the Georgia Lady Bulldogs women’s basketball team this season.

In her latest outing, Armbrister scored a career high 18 points and dished the game winning assist in the Lady Bulldogs’ 70-68 win over the Vanderbilt Commodores.

She shot 7-11 from the field and 2-4 from beyond the arch and added three assists and one steal.

On their final possession of the game, Armbrister drove into the lane with the final seconds and found Stephanie Paul who made a jumper to give Georgia the win.

It was Armbrister’s second double-digit scoring performance of the season and her career. 

Georgia trailed by as much as 13 during the first half before they stormed back to win their fourth win of the last five meetings against Vanderbilt.

“We had to get our minds right in the locker room. We talked about picking the energy up, picking each other up, and that’s what we did,” Armbrister said. “They switched it up a lot so we really had to focus in on what plays they were running and being able to figure out what their strategy is.”

Paul was one of four Lady Bulldogs who scored in double figures.

“I saw Shanea had the ball left and I just tried to catch to an open space and hope I was open. It’s shots that we talk a lot in practice, that we do all the time, so I knew I would be able to make it.”

Georgia improved to 10-6 on the season, third in the SEC.

“Shanea and Stephanie’s confidence were building and they both really came out and carried us when some of our other players were struggling in the first half,” said Georgia head coach Joni Taylor, “All day long when someone needed to make a play, absolutely needed it, they stepped up. That was really good for us and that is what we have been telling our team. It takes four, it takes five, it takes everyone that comes on the floor to be locked in and make a play.”

The Lady Bulldogs will take a two game winning streak on the road against the No.5 ranked team in the nation, the South Carolina Gamecocks.

This season for Armbrister has not only featured several career highs but has given her the opportunity to play at home for the first time in years when Georgia competed in the Junkanoo Jam in Bimini last November.

On the season she is averaging 6.4 points, four rebounds and 2.1 assists in 25 minutes per game.

As a transfer after a storied junior college career, Armbrister played in 21 games last season for the Bulldogs. After battling through a torn meniscus in the early part of the year, the six-foot, two-inch wing player hit 45 per cent from three-point range, the best average on the team for players with 10 or more attempts. Over the season she averaged 2.2 points and one rebound per game.