University of Georgia Athletics
Lady Bulldogs Travel To Statesboro To Face GSU
December 04, 2001 | Women's Basketball
Dec. 4, 2001
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Lady Bulldogs Travel To Statesboro To Face GSU
When Andy Landers was named Georgia's first full-time women's basketball coach as a 26 year-old back in 1979, he had a three major goals.
"I remember very clearly when I got here," Landers said. "There were three objectives in my mind, three goals, and all three of them had the same degree of difficulty.
"The first one sounds like it would have been easy, but it was as tough as any of them," Landers continued. "We had to get respect in our state. We were at the bottom of the heap behind Mercer and Valdosta State and Georgia Southern and Georgia State. We were able to do that in a relatively short period of time. The second one was to be a top-10 team. The third was to be a top-5 program on an annual basis."
The numbers to back up Landers' claim of No. 1 being equally difficult as No. 2 and No. 3 are clearly evident.
During Georgia's first six years of intercollegiate women's basketball from 1973-79, 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 women's basketball fortunes changed dramatically upon Landers' arrival. It took a couple of seasons for the Lady Dogs to truly dominate the Peach State.
In 1979-80, Landers' first in Athens, Georgia 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. Since 1983 - coincidentally, UGA's first Final Four campaign - the Lady Dogs are 36-0 versus the four programs Landers was chasing when he arrived in Athens.
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