ATHENS, Ga. — In the moments where Furman held its brief first-quarter lead, Sarah Ashlee Barker stood atop the key. She surveyed her options, targeted the 6-foot-4 frame of Jenna Staiti for an easy layup try in a half-court set. She threw it into the hands of the defender, and it marked the sophomore's third turnover in a tad more than five minutes of play.

A pair of aggressive turnovers preceded that miscue, including a travel when driving into the post and action after a blocked shot that could've resulted in a jump ball. She had committed all of Georgia's first three turnovers early in Monday night's action.

"In last week's game, I would've gotten down on myself and gotten in my head," Barker said of the early sequence that could've led to a frustrating night but resulted in the ultimate reward. "I'm working on moving to the next play. That's what I did tonight, and I didn't let a turnover or missed shot affect me. I kept playing hard."

Eighteen seconds later, Barker hit a 3-pointer from the wing and it began a 12-second stretch that defined Georgia's night paced by its second-year bundle of energy that made the Lady Bulldogs (2-0) tick to a 78-41 rout of mid-major foe Furman.

Barker hit the shot, and Furman tried to run in transition as the Paladins didn't want to face Georgia's stout defense at a slower, half-court pace. Barker didn't take any time to celebrate her made shot, but instead immediately honed in defensively and swiped a steal from Furman.

In that split second, it turned into a two-man game with two of the fastest players on the hardwood. Barker dished out a bullet pass to Mikayla Coombs — who later returned the favor with a touchdown-like pass resulting in a bucket from No. 3 — that led to an easy layup.

"She's an energy starter," freshman Reigan Richardson said postgame after two made 3-pointers in her second-ever college game. "We feed off of that."

Three turnovers became the lone blemishes in a dazzling night for Barker. She looked much like the spark that fueled Georgia off the bench a season ago, but a few things feel different. A starting role, a boost of confidence and some adjustments make Barker look better and able to produce at a higher volume. On Monday, she showed potential of growing from the Alabama kid who gave the Lady Bulldogs the frequent glow it needed to shine to a key cog in the team's starting lineup.

Barker couldn't be stopped or contained for the first time in her young career. She posted a career-best 19 points — and could've had eclipsed the 20-point mark if not for the unselfishness of trying to rack up a fourth-quarter assist to Staiti — while massively contributing to how Georgia operated in every facet possible.

"It's about not speeding myself up, and I feel like I did that a bit as a freshman," Barker said. "The game felt really fast. I settled into the speed of the game this summer. I really have a good idea (now) of what needs to happen in our offense."

Barker set the stage for a second-year surge with a freshman campaign that featured a number of flashes. She helped Georgia top its arch rival Georgia Tech by playing in every crunch-time minute. She came up big in returns to her home state when Georgia pulled out victories at Auburn and Alabama. She faced some fluctuation in minutes and missed a couple of SEC games, but Barker began to find her way through the sport's most-competitive conference through the season's home stretch.

Suddenly, the game began to slow down. Barker has quite the asset of speed, but nearly went too fast at times to where her play escalated to a helter-skelter pace. A semblance of comfortability and the gift of experience became the magic pill for the do-it-all guard, which came at an ideal time for an offseason of development to follow.

"You see somebody who is more settled," head coach Joni Taylor said. "She's playing with a lot more confidence."

After Georgia briefly separated after the NCAA tournament and reconvened for summer workouts, Barker had done a lot of work on her shot. She's the shooter, after all, and inconsistent numbers didn't sit well with the former high school Gatorade Player of the Year. That work would come through repetition, drills and some belief that "I know I can shoot the ball," she said. Barker has shot 1-for-5 from beyond the arc in her first two games of the 2021-22 season, but plans to continue shooting while knowing "it will fall eventually."

Through the extra work behind closed doors, in something as basic as a pickup game with her teammates, a season full of experience came to benefit. Barker knew how to adjust her pace of play in given situations.

"I'm just playing basketball now," Barker said. "Last year, I was all about 'the play.' I'm settled in, and I told myself that I'm going to play off of the ball and make the right reads and go off of that. It helped me a lot."

Albeit in the sample size of one game, Barker's game looks transformed in a way that can help Georgia's backcourt escalate itself to greater heights. The Lady Bulldogs don't have a lead guard, but a three-headed tandem of Barker, Coombs and Morrison has shown to work quite OK.

A career-best day didn't leave Barker content. She won't let emotions linger about a few early turnovers, either, because only one number matters to the sophomore.

So far, it's two.

"I want to contribute in any way," Barker said. "I want to go win a SEC championship, and that's the only thing on my mind. I don't personally care about what I do. It's about what we have at the end of the season, and that's winning."