Scouting reports were rendered useless on Sunday at The Pit when the UNM women's basketball team beat TCU 75-63.
Georonika Jackson appeared to be a weak link, according to TCU head coach Jeff Mittie. But Jackson made the Horned Frogs look foolish. On Sunday, she dictated the game. Jackson had 23 points - almost equaling her season total of 27 - and went 7-of-11 from the field. Six of the shots she made were 3-pointers.
TCU sagged off Jackson, and she beanbagged the Horned Frogs like a criminal being taken into custody.
"You play the percentages with some players," Mittie said. "And she burned us today."
What exactly were those percentages? Jackson came in averaging 8.4 minutes per game and a whopping 1.6 points per game. She hadn't been shooting particularly well, either - as in 9-of-39 from the field (23.1 percent) and 2-of-8 from downtown for the season.
"Everybody feels like they deserve more," she said. "The only thing I can do is control what I can."
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No matter what TCU did, Jackson outdid the Horned Frogs' adjustments.
"We switched up a couple things defensively," Mittie said. "We were slow in some rotations. She really shot it well, and I credit her teammates, too, because they knew she was playing well. They got her the ball during those stretches."
Nine of those 23 points came during a 9-0 run by Jackson. TCU had snatched its first lead since the 10:27 mark in the first half. It would be short-lived. Jackson popped a trey to reclaim the lead for the Lobos. Amanda Adamson stole the ball five seconds later; Jackson buried another 3-pointer to put UNM up 50-45.
Less than a minute later, Jackson belted up another dagger - this one missed, but Jackson was fouled. And for her parting shot, the junior put up another three, this time from the free-throw line.
"She hit three right away, 'Bang, bang, bang,'" Mittie said. "Unless we want to waste timeouts, our players are going to have to make the adjustments on the floor."
Flanagan said he's never seen Jackson play better.
"Georonika played the best game of her life," Flanagan said. "That's the best game I've ever seen her have."
Flanagan said he "made a mistake" by not playing Jackson more against San Diego State. He got a mulligan.
Jackson, who has experienced some tough games this season, said that through thick and thin, she tries not to get down on herself.
"I used to, but I realized it doesn't help," she said. "I just have to stay positive, keep working. Every day is a brand-new day. The season goes by too fast to get down on yourself."
Angela Hartill, who made 14 points of her own, said Jackson's game came in the nick of time - only days removed from a 57-52 loss to San Diego State and concerns from Flanagan about how dangerously dependent the Lobos were on Amy Beggin.
"It shows that we're a much harder team to defend," Hartill said. "People view us as just a starting-five team - our first five are going to get the most minutes, most points, whatever, and G stepping up like this and hitting all her shots just shows anybody on our team can step up any given day. It makes us more well-rounded."
Seventeen games in, Jackson improved her point average to 2.9. Simply put, percentages can be deceiving.
