University of Georgia Athletics
Lady Bulldogs Gear Up For SEC Opener Versus VCU
December 29, 2001 | Women's Basketball
Dec. 29, 2001
Georgia returns to action this afternoon for its final tune-up before entering the rigors of its SEC schedule later this week. The Lady Bulldogs host VCU at Stegeman Coliseum at 2:30 p.m. UGA begins is SEC slate this Thursday against No. 21 LSU in Athens at 7:30 p.m.
The Matchups
Georgia Lady Bulldogs Virginia Commonwealth Rams Overall: 9-0 Overall: 3-7 Rankings: No. 10 AP, Rankings: NR AP, No. 8 USA Today/ESPN NR USA Today/ESPN Head Coach: Andy Landers Head Coach: David Glass 554-158 (.778) 23rd at UGA 72-80 (.474) 6th at VCU 636-179 (.780) 27th overall 99-134 (.425) 9th overall
Probable Starters No. Name PPG RPG No. Name PPG RPG 31 Camille Murphy 5.7 2.2 G 23 Rochelle Luckett 11.3 4.3 (5-6, Sr., Syracuse, N.Y.) (5-7, Sr., Capitol Heights, Md.)
24 Whitney Law 8.0 3.9 G 3 Meagan Evans 10.1 1.4 (5-11, Fr., Littleton, Colo.) (5-9, Soph., Sherbrooke, Australia)
44 Ebony Felder 8.3 5.9 F 10 ShaVohn McKinnon 8.2 2.1 (6-2, R-Fr., Jackson, Miss.) (5-10, Sr., Newport News, Va.)
54 Kara Braxton 16.2 8.4 F 21 Kristine Austgulen 14.9 8.9 (6-6, Fr., Jackson, Mich.) (6-0, Jr., Bergen, Norway)
4 Christi Thomas 11.0 8.4 C 43 Candice Phelps 2.7 2.0 (6-5, Soph., Buford, Ga.) (6-1, Jr., Clinton, Md.)
Off The Bench 40 Tawana McDonald 7.6 6.8 C 31 Susie Dee 2.2 1.3 (6-4, Sr., Flint, Mich.) (6-2, Sr., Pocahontas, Iowa)
13 Jessica Pierce 6.7 2.8 F 42 Lauren Hogan 2.0 3.0 (6-2, Fr., Pensacola, Fla.) (6-2, Fr., Prince George, Va.)
3 Mary Beth Lycett 5.9 3.3 G 5 Devon Wilson 2.4 2.6 (6-0, Jr., McDonough, Ga.) (5-8, Fr., Bethesda, Md.)
Making Heads Or Tails Of A Starting Quintet
Andy Landers sent a murmur through Stegeman Coliseum at tipoff of Georgia's first exhibition game on Saturday, Nov. 3, when senior center Tawana McDonald was not included in the starting five.
Landers' post-game explanation of the fact was quite simple.
It seems the Lady Bulldogs had been scrimmaging with the same "Red" vs. "Black" teams for much of the previous week. When the time came to determine the five starters for Saturday night, Landers opted to keep the groups intact and allow fate to make the decision.
Tameiko Washington of the "Red" team lost a coin toss during the shoot-around that afternoon, and the "Black" team therefore started the game.
"This team doesn't need to be worrying about who is going to start," Landers said following the 89-70 victory over the University of the Virgin Island All-Stars. "They need to be getting familiar with each other. I don't want them coming to practice tomorrow worrying about if they started. I want them coming to practice worrying about getting better."
Washington"s "Red" squad did open the second half the UVI exhibition which begs the question: "Did Meiko, who grew up playing back-yard football with Georgia football standouts Robert and Terrence Edwards, really lose the toss or did she simply defer to the second half and decide to defend the West end of Stegeman Coliseum?"
The Lady Dogs, who are off to their fifth-best start ever, will look to use a common formula so far this season...utilizing their superior height. Georgia's lineup features five players between 6-6 and 6-2, while VCU's rotation includes just two players who are 6-2.
Andy Landers hopes to not only to work the ball inside but also improve efficiency in the paint.
"The height obviously is in our favor," Landers said. "We need to revive some of the scoring on our front line. We're not getting enough shots in there at times, and when we do we're not hitting some good shots in there at times."
Though the Lady Dogs topped their last two opponents, Oakland and Georgia Tech, by 21 and 17 points, respectively, Georgia missed more than its fair share of layups.
Though VCU enters the contest with just a 3-7 record, Landers is well aware of the Rams' potential. A year ago, the Lady Dogs used a 10-3 run to end the first half and a 16-10 spurt to open the second half to gain control of a tight contest. Georgia eventually captured a 77-63 victory.
"(Kristine) Austgulen and (Rochelle) Luckett are two very good offensive players," Landers said. "Luckett created problems for us last year. She's extremely quick, a good penetrator and can create for other people. That concerns me."
A complete box score from that matchup, as well as game-by-game results in the series, can be found on Page 4 of these Game Notes.
Georgia is 2-0 all-time versus VCU. In addition to last year, the Lady Dogs garnered a 59-51 victory during the 1987-88 campaign.
UGA is 2-2 all-time against teams currently in the Colonial Athletic Association, with an 0-2 mark versus Old Dominion as Georgia's only other contests against the 10-team league. The Lady Dogs are 2-2 against East Carolina in games played while the Pirates were members of the CAA.
Youngsters Leading The Way
Georgia's youthful Lady Bulldogs, whose 13-player roster includes seven freshmen, have been led by their younger standouts this season.
A freshman or sophomore leads the Lady Dogs in scoring (Kara Braxton at 16.2), rebounding (Braxton and Christi Thomas at 8.4) and steals (Whitney Law at 2.3). In addition, a first- or second-year player occupies five of the top six spots among Georgia's individual scoring averages.
UGA's younger players have contributed in every stat. All told, freshmen and sophomores have compiled better than 70 percent of Georgia's points, individual rebounds and blocks, more than 65 percent of the Lady Dogs' steals and minutes and over 55 percent of the team's assists.
A breakdown of the contributions of Georgia's freshmen and sophomores, statistically speaking, follows.
Young Gun Stat Breakout
Stat Team Fr./So. Pct.
Points 655 478 73.0
Rebounds 392* 277 70.7
Assists 148 86 58.1
Blocks 88 62 70.5
Steals 100 67 67.0
Minutes 1850 1240 67.0
* Total of individual players...team boards have been subtracted. Rosters Full of "GS" Players
Georgia has played nine games this season, while VCU has 10 games under its belt, however, the two teams have a combined two players who have started every game.
Senior point guard Camille Murphy is the only player to get the nod in each outing for the Lady Bulldogs, while Kristen Austgulen is the only one on the Rams' roster who can make the same claim.
Andy Landers has mixed and matched eight of his 13 players into starting spots at one time of another. VCU's David Glass has given 10 of his 16 players an opportunity to start this season.
Perfect Mark For A New Year?
Though the Lady Bulldogs possess a stellar competitive resume - UGA is one of five schools to advance to five Final Fours and has been invited to 18 of 20 NCAA Tournaments...the Lady Dogs have won seven SEC Championships and four SEC Tourney titles - Georgia has reached the new calendar year of a season with an unblemished record on only four occasions.
The Lady Bulldogs were 11-0 en route to a best-ever 14-0 opening to the 1998-99 campaign. The Lady Dogs also were 9-0 in both 1994-95 and 1989-90. In two of those seasons, 1995 and 1999, UGA went on to reach the Final Four, and in the third, 1990, UGA finished 25-5 overall. Not coincidently, Georgia is off to its fifth-best start ever. Trailing the 14-0 start three years ago, the Lady Bulldogs also were 13-0 in 1989-90, 12-0 in 1994-95 and 10-0 in 1985-86.
Back In Familiar Territory
Georgia moved to No. 10 in the Dec. 10 edition Associated Press top-25 poll, a locale the Lady Bulldogs have occupied much of the last seven seasons.
Dating back to the start of the 1995-96 season - when UGA eventually finished as NCAA runner-up - the Lady Dogs have now been ranked among the top-10 of the AP poll during 86 of the last 113 weekly polls. That equates to an amazing 76.1 percent.
That percentage would be even more impressive had Georgia not spent only one of 18 weeks in the top-10 during the 1997-98 season.
Not coincidentally, the Lady Bulldogs have made a major climb in the all-time AP poll during the same time frame. The historical ledger is compiled by combining teams' standing in the year-end AP poll each spring (i.e. the No. 1 team in the final poll receives 25 points in the all-time poll).
Georgia has risen from No 12 to No. 5 in the all-time rankings since their 1995 Final Four effort.
Lady Bulldogs' Lineup Shuffle
Georgia utilized four different starting lineups in its first seven games.
The Lady Bulldogs opened the campaign with Camille Murphy and Whitney Law at guard, Jessica Pierce and Kara Braxton at forward and Tawana McDonald at center.
That lineup lasted two games until Law suffered a sprained ankle to move Mary Beth Lycett into the lineup, and Christi Thomas replaced Braxton.
The Lady Dogs' third quintet was formed at Georgia Southern when Law returned to the starting five and Ebony Felder drew the nod over Pierce for the first time. Felder, a redshirt, became 47th freshman to start for Andy Landers during his 23 seasons at UGA. She also was the fourth freshman to start for Georgia this season.
McDonald, who along with Murphy was one of only two Lady Bulldogs to start the first six games, missed the NC State game. McDonald suffered a minor hyperextension of her knee in practice after the Georgia Southern game and missed more than a week of practice. T-Mac's DNP at NC State snapped a streak of 50 consecutive starts dating back to her sophomore year.
Tube Time Begins On High Note
Thursday afternoon's win over Georgia Tech on FOX SportsNet South not only improved the Lady Bulldogs to 24-0 all-time against their arch-rivals, it also represented Georgia's 75th all-time televised victory.
The Lady Dogs will have six regular-season games on television during the 2001-02 campaign. Other games to be televised can be found in the schedule to your left.
The Lady Bulldogs have played some of their best basketball with the glare of television lights on them. Georgia is 75-32 (.701) all-time in televised games dating back to the 1982-83 season, including an even more impressive 57-16 (.781) mark since the beginning of the Lady Dogs' 1995 Final Four campaign.
Facing Ranked Foes Nothing New
While NC State represented Georgia's first ranked opponent on the 2001-02 schedule, the Lady Bulldogs are no stranger to playing teams included in the AP top 25.
With its overtime win in Raleigh on Dec. 16, UGA improved to 120-92 (.566) versus ranked teams.
The Lady Bulldogs have eight more games on tap against teams in this week's poll, all versus SEC competition. Maintaining Superiority In Ga.
Georgia's 69-52 win over Georgia Tech in the inaugural Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl SEC/ACC Shootout extended the Lady Dogs' winning streak versus Peach State schools to 52 games.
Such UGA dominance wasn't always a given, however.
"I remember very clearly when I got here there were three objectives in my mind, three goals, and all three of them had the same degree of difficulty," Andy Landers said. "The first one sounds like it would have been easy, but it was as tough as any of them. We had to get respect in our state. We were at the bottom of the heap behind Mercer, Valdosta State, Georgia Southern and Georgia State. We were able to do that in a relatively short period.
"The second one was to be a top-10 team," Landers continued. "The third was to be a top-5 program on an annual basis."
The numbers to back up Landers' claim of goal No. 1 being equally difficult as goals No. 2 and No. 3 are clearly evident.
During Georgia's first six years of intercollegiate women's basketball, the Lady Dogs were a woeful 37-85 (.303). UGA was only 3-30 against the four in-state schools Landers mentioned previously.
While Georgia's fortunes changed dramatically upon Landers' arrival, it took a couple of seasons for the Lady Dogs to truly dominate in state.
In 1979-80, Landers' first in Athens, UGA was just 2-7 against Mercer, Valdosta State, Georgia Southern and Georgia State, and both of those wins came in overtime. In 1980-81 and 1981-82, the Lady Dogs improved to 8-4 versus those foes while beginning their current streak late in 1982.
Tracking T-Mac & Camille
Tawana McDonald already has ascended on three of the Lady Dogs' career statistical leaders lists this season. Camille Murphy likely will join T-Mac's movement soon. In the season opener, T-Mac supplanted Lisa O'Connor in the No. 8 spot among Georgia's career rebounding leaders.
During a Dec. 1 victory over UNLV, McDonald moved past Saudia Roundtree into the No. 20 spot among the Lady Dogs' career scoring leaders.
The following day, while playing her 100th game in a Georgia uniform, T-Mac swatted six shots versus Cal to pass Tracy Henderson and inch into the No. 2 slot on the career blocked shots ledger.
McDonald and Murphy are closing in on the following milestones: Much Ado About Blocking UGA has blocked 88 of its opponents' 597 shots this season - 14.7 percent of all field goals. The Lady Dogs have swatted one of every 6.8 shots attempted. Subtract out the opponents' 185 made field goals, and UGA has blocked 88 of 412 shots which did not find the bottom of the basket - 21.3 percent. While somewhat impressed by the Lady Bulldogs' blocked shot tally, Andy Landers offered a sobering response. "Yeah, we've blocked a lot shots, but we've probably fouled people on more than that," Landers quipped. Still, in the most recent NCAA statistics report (Dec. 12), the Lady Bulldogs were prominent individually. Three Lady Dogs were ranked among the nation's top-15 shot blockers - Tawana McDonald at No. 5, Kara Braxton at No. 6 and Christi Thomas tied at No. 15. The NCAA does not keep blocked shots as a team statistic. Boarding With The Best Of Them And for the first time in nearly five seasons, three different Lady Bulldogs garnered double-digit rebound marks in a single game as Kara Braxton and Christi Thomas collected 11 rebounds apiece and Tawana McDonald added 10. The last time three Georgia players reached double figures for rebounds in a game was on Jan. 18, 1997, when Tracy Henderson had 13 rebounds and La'Keshia Frett and Tiffany Walker grabbed 10 apiece in a 78-56 victory over Ole Miss in Athens. Landers Wins 550th At UGA A four-time National Coach of the Year, Landers has averaged 24.8 wins in 23 years at UGA, third-best among all Division I women's coaches with as much tenure. Landers next milestone is overall win No. 650, which he's 14 "Ws" shy of today. T-Mac Named MVP In Berkeley Kara Braxton joined T-Mac on the all-tourney team. The freshman from Jackson, Mich., scored 19 points and grabbed nine boards against UNLV in the first round of the tourney. Versus Cal, McDonald sparked a more than stagnant Georgia lineup, which fell behind 12-0 and did not score until the 11:28 mark of the first half. McDonald's MVP trophy was the second of her career. As a sophomore, T-Mac was named MVP of the Pre-season WNIT after averaging 12.8 points, 9.8 rebounds and 3.8 blocks and shooting 62.5 percent from the field in four WNIT games (including wins over three top-25 teams). A Career Day For Taylor Taylor played the entire 20 minutes of the second half, a mark which alone bettered her previous career high for minutes played of 14 in the season-opener against Maine. Taylor's steal of an inbounds pass at midcourt and subsequent layup and three-pointer from the right corner on Georgia's next offensive possession cut the Lady Rebels' lead to 49-46 with 12:13 remaining. Taylor assisted a Christi Thomas bucket which tied the score at 51-51 and then connected on a runner in the lane to give UGA a 53-51 advantage. The Lady Dogs never trailed following that point. "I thought it was time to give some of the other kids a chance to play and see if they could spark us, which is exactly what Tina did," Andy Landers said. Taylor finished with career-highs of 11 points, three rebounds, three assists, four steals and 30 minutes. But She Wasn't The Only One To Run Against The Rebels All told, players off the pine scored 51 of UGA's 77 points, including 33 of 45 in the second half. In addition to Taylor's 11 points, three other UGA reserves reached double-digits in the scoring column. Freshman Kara Braxton poured in a team-high 19 points, while Ebony Felder and Whitney Law chipped in 11 and 10 points, respectively. Learning Big "TEAM", Little "me" With seven freshmen in their first year of collegiate basketball, the Lady Dogs feature a majority of players who have dominated the competition they've faced to date. "For the most part, those freshmen have always been the best player on the floor," Landers said. "They haven't really had to play with other people, other people have had to play with them. Getting them to work together and see the bigger picture takes some time, but that's nothing that's abnormal for most freshmen. It's just exaggerated this year because we have so many of them." There may be a silver lining emerging from the cloud which sometimes seems to hover over the young Lady Dogs. Georgia played extremely well and kept its composure in six tight games. The Lady Dogs trailed Middle Tennessee State as late as the 3:30 mark of the second half and fell behind by 11 points to Georgia State in the first half. At the Oakland Tribune Classic, the Lady Bulldogs chipped away at a nine-point UNLV edge during a good portion of the first 33 minutes and then trailed Cal 12-0 in the first half. Georgia squandered a double-digit second-half lead at No. 13 NC State before gutting out a win in overtime. The Lady Dogs also trailed Georgia Tech by five early in the second half before storming back for a 17-point win. Down the stretch of each outing, Georgia looked like anything but a squad comprised 53.8 percent of freshmen. "This team seems to be more comfortable during the last four-five minutes of a tight game," Landers said after the UNLV win. "Their youth may have something to do with that. I think some of our players are thinking a bit too much. In the last few minutes, when the game has been on the line, we did a good job of just playing... making plays when it counted most." Injury Bug Takes Another Bite Ebony Felder, Whitney Law and Tawana McDonald all posted DNPs during the first seven games due to various injuries. Christi Thomas, the 2001 SEC Freshman of the Year, also has been limited somewhat while she continues to recover from off-season surgery on her left knee to repair chipped cartilage and a small tear in the lateral meniscus. Felder, who missed all of last season after undergoing surgery on her right shoulder, "tweaked" her left shoulder in practice on Nov. 13 and missed the season-opener against Maine. She scored 14 points - including five in OT- versus MTSU. Felder injured her shoulder again and missed the Georgia State game. Law sprained her ankle in practice on Nov. 23 and then missed the Georgia State game on Nov. 27. In Law's absence, Mary Beth Lycett made the first start of her career versus the Lady Panthers and posted career highs for assists (six) and minutes played (37). McDonald slightly hyperextended her knee in practice in early December and did not play in an overtime victory at No. 13 NC State on Dec. 16. She returned to log 12 minutes of action at Oakland on Dec. 20. Lady Dogs Sign Impressive Class Georgia's already strong recruiting haul received a major boost on Nov. 21 - the final day of the NCAA's weeklong early signing period - when Alexis "Alex" Kendrick from Inglewood, Calif., inked papers with UGA. Kendrick joined Georgia natives Sherill Baker and Marquita Driskell, two of the nation's top 30 prospects, who signed letters of intent to play collegiately for Georgia on Nov. 14 - the first day they could ink papers during the fall signing period. Baker, a 5-8, combo guard from Greater Atlanta Christian School in Norcross, was tabbed as the nation's No. 20 prospect by the All-Star Girls Basketball Report. Driskell, a 6-1, wing player from Baldwin County High School, was ranked as the No. 26 recruit in the nation by the All-Star Girls Basketball Report and the No. 40 prospect by Blue Star Recruiting Service. Kendrick, a 5-7, guard, is rated as the nation's No. 7 prospect by Blue Star Recruiting, while she also was ranked No. 8 and No. 10 by School Sports and the All-Star Girls Basketball Report, respectively. A Surprising (& Welcome) Sight That's why Landers was all smiles following the Lady Bulldogs' 88-57 win over Maine in their season-opener. That performance was a welcome sight after Georgia lost its second exhibition game by 24 points and continued to look lethargic in practices thereafter. "I was pleasantly surprised that we could come out and execute as well as we did since we did not always do that in the last exhibition game and we haven't been doing it in practices," Landers said. "We are still in a learning mode, though. All in all, I am very, very happy to come out of here with a win today." That Magic Number Pops Up With Georgia's 88-57 victory over Maine in the season opener, the 2001-02 Lady Bulldogs improved UGA's astronomical winning record when the Lady Bulldogs have scored more than 80 points under Andy Landers. Semantically speaking, that actually means 81 points or more, but "more than 80" is a whole lot easier to say. That score has become a permanent magic marker during Landers' 23 seasons at UGA. The Lady Dogs are now an unconscious 331-4 record when they've scored more than 80 points under Landers - a winning percentage of 98.80597. Trio Of Frosh Start Opener When Andy Landers announced on Nov. 16 that freshmen Kara Braxton, Whitney Law and Jessica Pierce all would start the first game of their collegiate careers against Maine on Nov. 18, the obvious first question was researched. How many freshman have started their collegiate debuts for Landers? Upon further review, yet another freshman starter - guard Barbara Murray in 1980-81 - was discovered in a dusty file. Therefore, the trio of Braxton, Law and Pierce actually represented the 44th, 45th and 46th freshmen to start during Landers' 23 seasons at Georgia. Freshmen in the starting lineup is a long-standing tradition at Georgia. In fact, Landers has started at least one freshman during all but three seasons - 1994-95, 1995-96, 2000-01 - and at times during the 1987-88 and 1993-94 campaigns, UGA started lineups consisting of five freshmen. "We've got a history of starting freshman," Landers said. "It's not necessarily something that you want to do, but sometimes you need to do it or it can, in fact, be the best thing to do. " A total of 17 Lady Bulldog freshmen have started their collegiate debuts for Landers in Athens. Prior to this year's trifecta were: Cynthia Collins in 1979-80, Barbara Murray and Lou Sims in 1980-81, Janet Harris in 1981-82, Tammye Jenkins and Adrienne Shuler in 1987-88, Lady Hardmon in 1988-89, Camille Lowe in 1989-90, Kim "K.T" Thompson in 1992-93, La'Keshia Frett and Tracy Henderson in 1993-94, and Coco Miller, Kelly Miller and Elena Vishniakova in 1997-98. For the record, Tawana McDonald likely would have been included on that list if she had not suffered a sprained knee five days before the opener of the 1998-99 season. Lady Dogs' Make Magical Move "I am excited about the move to Magic 102.1, and I think the station is excited about being the home of Lady Bulldog Basketball," Andy Landers. "The switch will alleviate some scheduling conflicts in the past when WNGC broadcast Georgia football and women's and men's basketball games. The demographics of Magic's listening audience and our fan base are comparable, as well, and the promotions the station has planned in addition to its broadcasts will provide a great deal of exposure for our program." In previous years, the vast majority of the Lady Dog games aired on WNGC. When conflicts occurred, the Lady Bulldogs aired on WGAU 1340 AM. Georgia women's basketball is the only sports on Magic 102.1's programming schedule." "We are very excited to have the Lady Dogs exclusively on Magic 102.1," said Traci Jahn, Southern Broadcasting Companies General Manager. "Their success and the loyal support they receive throughout Northeast Georgia will certainly enhance our station. This will also help with scheduling conflicts in the past between different sports." "Not only will Lady Dogs Basketball be a great addition to our on air program-ming,"said T.J. McKay, Program Director of Magic 102.1, "but the Georgia fans will also benefit by having a station that focuses on the success of the program with lots of team information and ticket contests throughout the season." Jeff Dantzler and Mack Poss return for their ninth season together as the Lady Dogs' play-by-play announcer and color analyst, respectively. Lady Bulldogs Tabbed Third In Balloting At SEC Media Days The Lady Bulldogs tallied 54 points in voting of 15 media members in attendance who cover women's basketball regularly. Tennessee was installed as the favorite to win the league, however, the Lady Vols received only eight first-place votes. Vanderbilt, which was chosen to finish second overall, garnered first-place on the other seven ballots. Vanderbilt's Chantelle Anderson was the pre-season Player of the Year with nine votes. Georgia's Tawana McDonald received one vote. A rundown of balloting follows. Rank School (1st votes) Pts. 1. Tennessee (8) 22 2. Vanderbilt (7) 33 3. Georgia 54 4. Florida 62 5. LSU 85 6. Auburn 101 7. Arkansas 107 8. Miss. State 115 9. Alabama 127 10. South Carolina 148 11. Ole Miss 153 12. Kentucky 163 Next? A Rosy Opening To SEC The LSU contest begins the always-brutal SEC and a grueling opening to the conference slate. In addition to the Lady Tigers, the Lady Dogs also will face No. 3 Vanderbilt, No. 17 South Carolina and No. 19 Auburn during a 17-day span. Georgia is 16-7 all-time versus LSU, including a 7-3 mark in Athens. UGA has won eight of the last 10 dates with LSU.
* Murphy, with 65 three-pointers, is two threes from No. 8 Miriam Lowe on that list.
* McDonald, with 1,065 points, is 46 away from Pam Irwin-Osbolt and the No. 19 career scoring spot.
* McDonald, with 779 rebounds, is 44 boards off of the current No. 7 tally of Tracy Henderson (823).
The amazing early-season shot blocking prowess of Georgia's Lady Bulldogs is highlighted on Page 3 these Games Notes, however, here are some other interesting statistical tidbits.
Georgia hauled in 66 rebounds in its win at Georgia Southern, which equaled the fifth-best single-game tally in Lady Bulldog history.
The Lady Bulldogs gave Andy Landers an early Christmas present on Dec. 2 with a win in the championship game of the Oakland Tribune Classic - his 550th victory at Georgia. During a 32-4 effort in 1999-2000, Landers collected his 500th win at Georgia in what was the fourth-fastest pace in women's hoops history (649 games). Just 59 games later, Landers captured No. 550 with the Lady Dogs.
Tawana McDonald was named the Most Valuable Player of the Oakland Tribune Classic on Dec. 2 after posting season-highs of 19 points, 13 rebounds and six blocks in the championship game against Cal that afternoon.
Tina Taylor came up huge for Georgia in a 77-62 win over UNLV on Dec. 1.
Tina Taylor's play off the bench versus UNLV headlined what was banner effort by Lady Bulldog reserves.
According to Andy Landers, one of the biggest adjustments his players are having to make this season is simply learning to play together.
The injury bug, a frequent visitor to the UGA roster over the past several years, already has reared its ugly head this season.
The Lady Bulldogs recruiting class to join the team next fall was recently ranked as the fourth-best in the nation by The Women's Basketball Journal.
Andy Landers has been around the figurative block a few times. Therefore, it's not such an easy task to surprise the veteran coach, who is in his 23rd season with the Lady Bulldogs. Landers usually has a relatively accurate assessment of what to expect from his team.
The Lady Bulldogs didn't waste any time updating what has to be one of the greatest statistical indicators of all time.
The Lady Bulldog Media Guide states that the first freshman to start for Georgia this season would be the 43rd to do so.
WMGM, better known locally as Magic 102.1 FM, will broadcast every Lady Bulldog game this season. The games aired previously on WNGC FM, Magic 102.1's Southern Broadcasting sister station.
Georgia was predicted to finish third in the SEC during the upcoming 2001-02 season in voting by media attending SEC Basketball Media Days in Birmingham, Ala., on Nov. 1.
Georgia opens its 2002 SEC schedule against No. 21 LSU in Athens on Thursday.
