Georgia women's basketball opened the Ayla Guzzardo era with a massive defensive blow to West Georgia , 92-53, on Nov. 2 in Stegeman Coliseum, just like the Hammond, La.-native promised.
The Lady Bulldogs boasted about their identity being defense heavy during the preseason, but it was evident on Monday night when they recorded 47 rebounds and scored 24 points off turnovers.
The Lady Bulldogs were led by sophomore forward Dakota Howard with 18 points, 4 rebounds, 2 blocks and 3 steals. Junior guard Nya Smith had 15 points and 2 rebounds, and junior forward Blessing Adebanjo had 11 points, 8 rebounds, 1 block and 1 steal.
Others to breach double digit scoring include graduate guard/forward Jordana Codio with 11 points, 3 rebounds and 2 blocks; sophomore guard Milan Brown with 10 points, 5 rebounds, 1 block and 1 steal.
The Lady Bulldogs scored 41 points off the bench, 28 points off second chances and had only 7 turnovers to West Georgia's 20.
See the updates, scoring plays, turning points and expert analysis from Georgia women's basketball's game against West Georgia in the 2026-27 season opener.
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06:58 PM ET, November 2 2026, Sara Tidwell
Georgia women's basketball defeated West Georgia, 92-53, in the Lady Bulldogs' 2026-27 season opener.
Scroll up to see scoring leaders and key stats from Monday, Nov. 2.
06:33 PM ET, November 2 2026, Sara Tidwell
Georgia leads West Georgia, 73-37, at the end of the third quarter.
Scoring leaders for the Lady Bulldogs are junior guard Nya Smith with 15 points and sophomore forward Dakota Howard with 14 points. They're averaging 1.281 points per possession, scoring on 34 out of 57.
06:31 PM ET, November 2 2026, Sara Tidwell
Christi Thomas is in attendance with her high school players at Georgia women's basketball's home opener.
The 2015 Gwinnett County Sports Hall of Famer was named the head girls basketball coach at Hebron Christian Academy in Dacula, Ga., on April 15. The Beckham sisters, Alanna and Aubrey, graduated from that academy, prior to her hiring.
She previously held coaching roles at Perimeter Christian Schools and the Cambridge feeder program, as well as Northview High School, Flowery Branch High School, Jackson County High School and Seckinger High School.
Thomas was a center at Georgia where she was named SEC Freshman of the Year in 2001 and Miss Georgia Basketball in 2000.
Thomas went No. 12 overall in the 2004 WNBA Draft to the Los Angeles Sparks, where she remained until 2008. She then played for the Minnesota Lynx in 2009 and the Chicago Sky in 2010. She also played nine seasons internationally in Spain, Russia, Latvia, Israel, Italy and Turkey.
06:23 PM ET, November 2 2026, Sara Tidwell
Georgia leads West Georgia, 62-28, with 4:17 remaining in the third quarter.
The Lady Bulldogs are on a 2:09 scoring drought, missing 7 of their last 8 shots. The majority of scoring has come from the bench, with 29 points, but junior guard Nya Smith, who started, leads with 12 points of her own. Georgia is also cashing in second chance after second chance, with 22 more points.
05:54 PM ET, November 2 2026, Sara Tidwell
Georgia leads West Georgia, 54-23, at the end of the half, going on a 6-0 run while the Wolves missed 9 of their last 10 shots.
Scoring leaders for the Lady Bulldogs are junior guard Nya Smith with 10 points and junior forward Jordan Thomas with 8 points. Junior forward Blessing Adebanjo has 7 rebounds, while junior guard Tyreona Sibley and sophomore guard Aubrey Beckham combine for 6 assists.
The Lady Bulldogs have not once given up the lead but have spent 42 seconds tied with the Wolves. Georgia is out shooting West Georgia 51% (22-43) to 25% (8-32) from the field and 38% (3-8) to 11% (2-18) from beyond the arc.
Georgia had the same number of rebounds in the second quarter that West Georgia had in the entire first half.
05:47 PM ET, November 2 2026, Sara Tidwell
Georgia junior forward Jordan Thomas came into the game 5 minutes ago and already has 8 points and 1 rebound under her belt. She's 4-for-7 from the field.
Thomas transferred in from West Virginia, where she played her first two seasons. She averaged 3.8 points and 2.7 rebounds per game as a sophomore and 6.2 points and 4.3 rebounds as a freshman for the Mountaineers.
The Carrollton, Texas, native was a four-star prospect out of high school and ranked No. 79 in the nation by ESPN HoopGirlz. She was also No. 8 in the Lone Star state by J. Key's Texas High School rankings.
05:37 PM ET, November 2 2026, Sara Tidwell
Georgia has more rebounds than West Georgia has points with 4:42 remaining in the second quarter. The Lady Bulldogs are leading the Wolves, 42-19, and have 15 defensive and 8 offensive rebounds for a total of 23.
Six of those rebounds have come from junior forward Blessing Adebanjo, and a combined six more have come from sophomore forward Dakota Howard and sophomore guard Milan Brown.
05:26 PM ET, November 2 2026, Sara Tidwell
Georgia leads West Georgia, 29-15, at the end of the first quarter.
Scoring leaders for the Lady Bulldogs are junior guard Nya Smith and graduate guard/forward Jordana Codio with 5 points apiece. The team has 12 rebounds, nearly half the number of points, as well as 5 assists and 2 steals.
Out of 19 possessions, they've had 13 scores. 18 of their 29 points have been made in the paint, 15 have been made by bench players and 4 have been made off Wolves' turnovers.
05:16 PM ET, November 2 2026, Sara Tidwell
Georgia leads West Georgia, 17-8, with 4:31 remaining in the first quarter.
Graduate guard/forward Jordana Codio, junior guard Nya Smith and sophomore guard Aubrey Beckham each have 3 points apiece. The Lady Bulldogs are shooting 60% from the field and 50% from beyond the arc.
05:04 PM ET, November 2 2026, Sara Tidwell
Sophomore guard Aubrey Beckham missed a jumper, but on the rebound by junior forward Blessing Adebanjo, she returned a layup for the first 2 points of the game.
05:01 PM ET, November 2 2026, Sara Tidwell
Georgia women's basketball's starting five against West Georgia are senior guard Jailyn Banks, junior guard Nya Smith, sophomore guard Aubrey Beckham, junior forward Blessing Adebanjo and sophomore forward Dakota Howard.
Beckham is the only one of the starters who was on the team last year under Katie Abrahamson-Henderson. The other four came from the transfer portal during the offseason. Also of note, Howard played her freshman season at McNeese State with head coach Ayla Guzzardo and junior guard Tyreona Sibley.
04:00 PM ET, November 2 2026, Sara Tidwell
The Georgia vs. West Georgia women's basketball game tips off at 5 p.m. from Stegeman Coliseum in Athens, Ga., on Monday, Nov. 2. This is the Lady Bulldogs' season opener. They will play a four-game homestand before they hit the road to another Athens, this one in Ohio.
04:00 PM ET, November 2 2026, Sara Tidwell
Georgia vs. West Georgia women's basketball will be broadcast on SEC Network+ via ESPN+ . If you don't have that and you want to follow along live, you can go to the Georgia Athletics website and tune in to their game audio radiocast .
This article originally appeared on Athens Banner-Herald: Georgia WBB dominates West Georgia with defensive prowess in season opener
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