Mississippi State – 74, Georgia – 68. First things first. The Lady Bulldogs are not “reeling.” They aren’t “falling back to earth,” nor are they “mired in a slump.” Contrary to what the women’s basketball talking heads on ESPN or on the internet might say, despite having ignored Georgia for the first two-and-a-half months of the season, these two consecutive losses to both Mississippi teams haven’t exposed any heretofore unknown weaknesses. This is not last year, when the team endured a long mid-season SEC losing streak and their frustration was evident for all to see. This year’s edition of the Lady Bulldogs has enough pieces in place to do what they did in the first 16 games on a consistent basis. Once they deal with their obvious issues, like taking care of the ball and free throw shooting, they’ll start winning again. It could happen as soon as this Sunday in Auburn (in front of a busload of Fastbreakers). Again, nobody should be reaching for the panic button.

All that said, it sure would’ve been nice to close the deal on that comeback last night in Starkville. The best way to dig yourself out of a 15-point deficit hole is to not put yourself in that hole to begin with. Still, the Lady Dawgs mounted a mini-comeback in the game’s final three minutes that was heartening to watch. They didn’t fold the tent and look for a soft place to fall. Meredith led the way with 16 points, Angel added a dozen points, and Porsha went double-double with 11 points and the same number of rebounds. Ash missed the last few minutes of the game with a bum ankle…we’ll have an update on her condition right here as soon as information becomes available. For what it’s worth, there didn’t seem to be an visible sense of urgency among the training staff as Ash rested on the bench. Here’s hoping she just needed to cool her jets for a little while.

Finally…this is, of course, a Georgia Lady Bulldogs-oriented blog…but it would be unsporting to not give a shout-out to Mississippi State’s Alexis Rack. She had 34 points, highlighted by a blistering 7-of-10 shooting night from beyond the three-point arc. It was one of the finest performances by an opposing player in many years.

Next up for the Lady Bulldogs: Sunday evening on The Plains for a nationally televised (ESPNU) game with Auburn. If you’re going to the game on the Fastbreak Express bus, your job just got a little more important. Make some racket and let our Lady Dawgs know we’ve got their backs. We’ll have a Georgia/Auburn preview posted here sometime during the day tomorrow.

Click here for the official Georgia/Mississippi State game recap and a link to the stats and box score.