Bobcats rely on defense, senior leadership as they prepare for NCAA tournament

The dry erase board in Georgia College Head Coach Maurice Smith’s office has a quote from an old college friend of his.

“Champions. That’s what we are. But the task is not over. Breathe, rejuvenate, refocus,” the board reads.

The Bobcats won the Peach Belt Conference last weekend, but now they are setting their sights higher as they prepare for their NCAA Southeast Regionals matchup against Barton College on March 8. The winner advances to play on March 12 against the winner of the Clayton State-Francis Marion game. It’s no secret Georgia College is playing its best basketball of the year right now, and there are a couple of key factors that have contributed to that: better defense and more balance on the offensive end.

“The biggest thing has been defense, no doubt,” Smith said. “The fundamental aspects: pressuring the other team, making sure we are helping our teammates out, communicating, really just buckling down. Offensively, we came along. We had more balance scoring. We had players step up, especially our young players like (freshmen forwards) Abby Slocumb and Krysta Lewis. (Senior guard) Jessica Baker came off the bench and played well for us. (Junior forward) Tammeisha Law stepped up and hit some big shots. And (sophomore) Karisma Boykin from the point guard position played more confidently and distributed the ball more. So it all came together.”

The contributions from the bench have grown steadily throughout the season for the Bobcats.

“All year long, it’s been about total team effort,” Smith said. “Getting other people to step up and play big for us, so it’s definitely a vital part of our success, probably the single biggest thing.”

The strong performances in the conference tournament from senior guards Chimere Jordan and Dominique Huffin were a further affirmation of what Smith calls excellent senior leadership.

“It’s at an all-time high. At the beginning of the year it was a process,” Smith said. “Trying to get it to where we wanted it, but now it’s very good. They lead by example and set the tone with their energy and enthusiasm.”

Despite winning the tournament, the Bobcats didn’t budge from their No. 4 ranking in the region.

“I thought we would probably move up at least one to get a higher seed, but after looking in between the lines and reading the numbers, it was hard to knock Aiken down,” Smith said. “They beat Lander in the regular season and beat Clayton and us. So I can see where the committee was at a standstill. It was real close voting. We’re happy we’re in, and we are going to try to take advantage of the opportunity we have.”

With PBC teams accounting for each of the top four seeds in the regionals as well as Francis Marion earning the No. 8 seed, the Bobcats have played a quality schedule that could be advantageous to them in the national tournament.

“I was just talking to a fellow coach on the phone who is in another league,” Smith said. “He was looking at it across the board and saying how other conferences across the nation don’t compare to the level of competition.”

Against Barton, the Bobcats will have to rely on their staple, defense, to stop the high-powered Bulldogs.

“They are a penetrating team, so we have to play our defense and keep helping each other out,” Huffin said. “We have to be strong and physical with our rebounding and play strong defense, and that will be the key.”

Huffin, her fellow seniors and the rest of her teammates are looking to leave as big of a mark as they can.

“We want to leave a legacy. In the beginning we had a goal to win the Peach Belt and we wanted it badly,” Huffin said. “We rallied behind each other, and we’re looking to make a run, win the regionals and get to the Elite Eight in Missouri. We’re going to keep pushing as hard as we can.”