Houts, Tasha lead Lady Dogs to win in opener

ATHENS - Ashley Houts scored 17 points and No. 9 Georgia used a big run starting the second half to win its season opener, 81-53 over Richmond on Friday night.

Gainesville native Tasha Humphrey, a third-team All-America each of the last two years, had 13 points and nine rebounds for Georgia. Freshman Jasmine Lee had 11 points and nine rebounds. Another freshman, Angela Puleo, had nine on three 3-pointers.

Georgia, which led 35-23 at halftime, stretched the advantage to 32 points with a 25-4 run in the first 9 minutes of the second half.

Houts, a point guard who was the Southeastern Conference Freshman of the Year last season, added nine rebounds, five steals and four assists. Houts is one of three returning starters for Georgia, coming off its fifth straight NCAA Sweet 16 season.

Though she spent most of her freshman season setting up other scorers, Houts had 11 points in the first half and added a 3-point shot and three-point play to help Georgia pull away early in the second half.

Freshman guard Brittani Shells led Richmond with 13 points. Katie Holzer added 10 points and eight rebounds.

Richmond shot only 27 percent (17 of 63) from the field.

Georgia beat Richmond 72-41 at Richmond last year. The Spiders are coached by Michael Shafer, who for 11 years was an assistant for Andy Landers at Georgia.