IOWA CITY, Iowa — The Georgia Lady Bulldogs were supposed to be the lower seed in their first-round March Madness matchup with Florida State on Friday, but they sure didn't look like it.
Diamond Battles scored 21, while Audrey Warren and Jordan Isaacs pitched in 11 and 10, respectively, as Georgia cruised past Florida State, 66-54, and into the second round of the NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament.
The veteran Bulldogs team - featuring graduate transfers Battles (from Central Florida), Warren (Texas) and Brittney Smith (also UCF) as starters - broke away early in the fourth, going up by as much as 17 and never really being challenged down the stretch by Florida State.
The Lady Bulldogs came into the game as the 10th seed in the contest, with Florida State ostensibly favored as the 7th seed. FSU, however, was without Ta'Niya Latson, who was 11th in the nation in scoring this season with more than 21 points per game.
UGA moves on to play either second-seeded Iowa or 15th-seeded Southeastern Louisiana.
In the likely event Iowa wins, the Hawkeyes will be a tall task - they went 26-6 this season, and are playing these games on their home court in Iowa City.
The experienced Dawgs, though, are unlikely to be intimidated - in addition to the graduate transfers brought in by first-year head coach Katie Abrahamson-Henderson, Isaacs is a senior and the other starter Friday, guard Chloe Chapman, is also a senior.
They'll get an Iowa team that relies heavily on guard Caitlin Clark, who was the third-leading scorer in the country this season with 27 points per game.