University of Georgia Athletics
Lady Dogs Travel To Face Mississippi State
January 10, 2007 | Women's Basketball
Georgia vs. Mississippi State
Date: January 11, 2007
Time: 6:00 p.m. CT
Location: Humphrey Coliseum; Starkville, Miss.
TV: CSS
Radio: Magic 102.1 FM
Upcoming Game Promotions: Jan. 14 vs. Tennessee
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The basics
Georgia travels to Starkville for its second consecutive SEC road date Thursday night in a CSS regionally televised matchup at 6:00 p.m. CT.
The Lady Bulldogs are 13-3 on the year, including a 1-1 in league play. Georgia remained at No. 15 in both national polls this week following a heartbreaking 57-55 loss at No. 6 LSU last Sunday.
Mississippi State has rallied from a 4-5 start to win six consecutive games and improve to 10-5 on the year. The Lady Bulldogs are riding high after upsetting No. 20 Arkansas, 81-73, on Sunday afternoon in Fayetteville. Marneshia Richard poured in a career-high 23 points to lead four players in double-digits.
Georgia leads series with MSU
Georgia enters tonight’s game with an 20-10 record all-time against Mississippi State; however, the series sports a much more evenly matched 7-6 mark in UGA’s favor in Starkville.
Last season in Athens, Sherill Baker equaled the Lady Bulldogs’ single game record for steals with 10 thefts and added 15 points to lead Georgia to an 81-42 win over State. FYI, freshman Ashley Houts tied Baker’s mark against Memphis on Nov. 29.
In its most recent trip to Starkville on Jan. 23, 2005, Georgia rallied from a six-point halftime deficit to secure a 67-57 victory. The Lady Dogs started quickly before Tasha Humphrey picked up her second foul midway through the first half and sat the rest of the period. Georgia knotted the score early in the second stanza and eventually secured the win behind 24 points and 12 rebounds from Humphrey, her sixth double-double in as many SEC games played.
Quoting Andy Landers...
On facing Mississippi State...
“Mississippi State is a basketball team that has played very well lately. They’ve won six straight, and their young kids are finding their stride. They have to be excited, particularly after a big win against a very good Arkansas team at Arkansas. Mississippi State is a very athletic basketball team that rebounds the ball extremely well.”
On the challenges of playing in Starkville...
“Anywhere you play on the road in the league is a tough place to play, but as much as anywhere else, Starkville, Mississippi, is really, really difficult. For whatever the reasons, regardless of who had the better team or who was favored to win, that has been a tough place to play.”
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Keeping an eye on...
Entering the Mississippi State game:
Cori Chambers is...
• 1 3-point FGs shy of breaking Kedra Holland-Corn’s UGA career record
• 3 3-point FGs from No. 9 Kara Lawson among the SEC’s career leaders
• 41 3-point FGAs shy of Kedra Holland-Corn’s UGA career record
Janese Hardrick is...
• 6 3-point FGs from No. 6 Alexis Kendrick among UGA’s career leaders
• 11 3-point FGAs from No. 8 Coco Miller among UGA’s career leaders
• 16 points from No. 26 Kara Braxton among UGA’s career leaders
Tasha Humphrey is...
• 1 FT from No. 8 Wanda Holloway among UGA’s career leaders
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League’s top young talent on display
Five players who have combined to capture six of nine SEC Freshman of the Week honors handed out during the 2006-07 campaign will be on the floor tonight.
Georgia’s Ashley Houts was tabbed on Nov. 13 and Dec. 4, while classmates Christy Marshall and Angel Robinson were selected on Nov. 20 and Dec. 18, respectively. Mississippi State’s Tysheka Grimes was honored on Dec. 23 and Alexis Rack was on Jan 1.
Houts and Marshall became the first teammates honored in consecutive weeks, while Grimes and Rack followed suit as the second such tandem.
Chambers closing in on Georgia three-point record
Cori Chambers enters tonight tied with Kedra Holland-Corn as the Lady Bulldogs’ career record holder for successful shots from behind the arc with 253.
Chambers entered the season 56 threes shy of Holland-Corn’s record. Considering that Chambers connected on a school-record 78 threes last season and 73 the year before that, there was a relatively solid chance she would break the mark.
However, Chambers is on pace to shatter the record with 56 threes in just 16 games this season. She leads the SEC and ranks No. 2 in the nation in threes per game at 3.5.
Regardless of whether or not she breaks the record today, Chambers will most likely do so more efficiently than Holland-Corn. Kedra took 675 attempts to knock down her threes. Chambers fired up only 644 attempts from behind the arc to reach the same tally of makes.
Chambers joins SEC ledger
Cori Chambers also has tied Kedra Holland-Corn at the No. 10 position among the SEC’s career leaders in three-pointers. At her current pace of 3.5 triples a game, Chambers would ascend to No. 3 on the league’s leaders ledger as outlined below.
SEC Career Threes
Player No. Years
1. Cornelia Gayden, LSU 337 1992-95
2. Wendi Willits, Ark. 316 1998-01
3. Betsy Harris, Bama 273 1991-94
4. Sara Potts, UK 271 2001-05
5. Beth Vice, Bama 270 2000-03
6. India Lewis, Ark. 267 2000-03
Kimberly Wilson, Ark. 267 1994-97
8. Niesa Johson, Bama 265 1992-95
9. Kara Lawson, UT 256 2000-03
10. Cori Chambers, UGA 253 2003-07
K. Holland-Corn, UGA 253 1994-97
Probable. Schmobable. Lineup shuffle settles down?
There’s a very exact science in determining who is listed as the “probable starters” for both teams. Look at the box scores from each squad’s previous game and insert the same five starters as “probable” for the next outing. For the Lady Bulldogs, that method has proved to be an inexact science of late.
After utilizing the same starting lineup for the first eight games of the season, Andy Landers has mixed and matched eight Lady Bulldogs to provide different combinations at the opening tip in seven of its last nine outings.
Cori Chambers is the lone constant in the Lady Bulldogs’ starting five during the first 16 games of the year. Against LSU, the Lady Dogs started seniors Chambers and Janese Hardrick, junior Megan Darrah Tasha Humphrey and freshman Ashley Houts for a second straight outing.
While nothing is carved in stone, Landers may settle on that quartet.
“I believe the lineup we used tonight is probably one we’ll try to continue with,” Landers said following the Florida game. “That’s not to say that there won’t be certain situations where we need to start a different lineup or there won’t be times when we may need to sub relatively early in a game. But unless someone really doesn’t perform like they’re supposed to, this is a lineup that could last.”
Not quite a permanent magic marker
The Lady Bulldogs are 5-0 this season when scoring 80 or more points, upping Georgia’s astronomical winning percentage under Andy Landers when they put up that many points to 404-7. That equates to a success rate of .982968369 over the past 27-plus seasons.
Georgia last loss when scoring 80 in a 94-85 shoot out at Tennessee on Jan. 12 last year.
Somewhat interestingly – at least we hope you think it’s interesting since it took quite a while to dig the information up – is the fact that the Lady Dogs are just 27-8 (.771) when they score exactly 79 points, with half of those loses being by three points or less.
Landers becomes fourth to reach 750 career victories
Andy Landers became only the fourth major college women’s basketball coach to secure 750 career victories with the Lady Bulldogs’ win over Richmond on Dec. 21.
Landers joined Tennessee’s Pat Summitt, Texas’ Jody Conradt and Rutgers’ C. Vivian Stringer as the only coaches to reach the plateau.
Landers compiled an 82-21 record in four seasons at Roane State College in Harriman, Tenn., before coming to Athens in 1979. Landers had a 668-209 record in 28 seasons with the Lady Bulldogs when he hit 750. FYI, the NCAA does not recognize Landers’ wins at Roane State because they were not secured at a four-year institution.
Ironically, victory No. 750 came against Richmond’s Michael Shafer, who helped Landers secure more than a third of his career wins during an 11-season span from 1994-05 on the Lady Bulldogs’ staff. During Shafer’s tenure, Georgia compiled a 273-84 record, finished as 1996 NCAA runner-up, also reached the 1995 and 1999 Final Fours, captured the 1996, 1997 and 2000 SEC Championships and won the 2001 SEC Tournament.
Chambers tops 20 more often, climbs career charts
Cori Chambers scored 20 or more points just six times during her first 102 games in her career at Georgia. She’s now done so in seven of the Lady Bulldogs’ last 15 outings.
Chambers popped for 20 points in back-to-back games for the first time at UGA with 22 against North Carolina A&T and 25 versus Davidson. She also poured in 21 against No. 11 Stanford, 23 versus Middle Tennessee, 20 against both Richmond and Brown and 23 versus Florida.
In fact, Chambers single-handedly outscored Richmond in the first half of that contest, 17-12.
One reciprocal benefit is Chambers’ ascension from No. 26 to No. 18 among UGA’s career scoring leaders as outlined below. She reached the top-20 during the Middle Tennessee game and passed No. 18 Stacey Ford during the Richmond game.
Lady Bulldog trio owns SEC Freshman of the Week honors
Angel Robinson was named the SEC Freshman of the Week on Dec. 18 to become the third different Lady Bulldog honored as such in the first six weeks of the season.
Robinson, Ashley Houts and Christy Marshall became the first trio of teammates to be recognized as SEC Freshman of the Week during a single season.
Houts and Marshall also became the first teammates to receive the accolade in consecutive weeks since the league began the weekly recognition last year.
Houts was honored on Nov. 13 and Dec. 4, and Marshall was on Nov. 20.
Robinson averaged 13.0 points and 7.0 rebounds and hit 66.7 percent of her field goals in wins over Savannah State and TCU to secure Freshman of the Week honors. Against the Lady Frogs, Robinson equaled her career highs with 18 points, eight rebounds and two assists and swatted a career-best two shots.
Houts equaled the Lady Bulldogs’ single-game record for steals with 10 thefts against Memphis and then scored 11 points and posted game-high tallies of five assists and two steals against Georgia Tech en route to her Dec. 4 recognition.
Marshall averaged 13.0 points, 4.5 rebounds and 3.0 steals in Georgia’s wins over North Carolina A&T and Davidson prior to her Nov. 20 accolade.
Houts was the SEC Freshman of the Week on Nov. 13, less than 24 hours after she led Georgia to victory over No. 11 Rutgers in the Lady Bulldogs’ nationally televised season opener. Houts posted game-high tallies of 18 points, seven assists and five steals on espn2.
Freshman starters list grows
Ashley Houts, Christy Marshall and Angel Robinson have become 58th, 59th and 60th freshmen to start for Andy Landers at Georgia.
Houts also became the 21st Lady Bulldog freshman to start their collegiate debut under Landers.
Marshall joined the sorority when she got the nod against TCU on Dec. 18 and Robinson followed in Georgia’s next game at George Mason on Dec. 20.
A complete list of the freshman to get the nod can be found below, with the players who have started their debut in bold-faced type.
Houts, Marshall and Robinson all started the Lady Bulldogs’ against Brown, a first since the end of the 2002-03 season.
UGA’s Freshman Starters
Season Player(s)
1979-80 Cynthia Collins
1980-81 Wanda Holloway, Rhonda Malone, Deborah Mitchell, Barbara Murray, Lou Sims
1981-82 Amanda Abrams, Janet Harris, Laura Greeson
1982-83 Teresa Edwards, Lisa O’Connor
1983-84 Katrina McClain
1984-85 Traci Waites
1985-86 Katie Abrahamson
1986-87 Sherrelle Warren
1987-88 Kim Berry, Stacey Ford, Tammye Jenkins, Jill Mitchell, Adrienne Shuler
1988-89 Lady Hardmon
1989-90 Camille Lowe, Miriam Lowe
1990-91 Deborah Carter
1991-92 Tara Cosby, Dorothy Sanders
1992-93 Kim Thompson, Tracy Walls
1993-94 Brandi Decker, La’Keshia Frett, Tracy Henderson, Kedra Holland, Rachel Powell, Tiffany Walker
1996-97 Angie Ball, Kiesha Brown, Diana Lott
1997-98 Coco Miller, Kelly Miller, Tawyna Nash, Elena Vishniakova
1998-99 Tawana McDonald, Camille Murphy
2000-01 Christi Thomas
2001-02 Kara Braxton, Nikki Eason, Ebony Felder, Whitney Law, Jessica Pierce
2002-03 Sherill Baker, Marquita Driskell, Alexis Kendrick
2003-04 Cori Chambers, Janese Hardrick, Rebecca Rowsey
2004-05 Megan Darrah, Tasha Humphrey
2006-07 Ashley Houts, Christy Marshall, Angel Robinson
Maria returns from volleyball
Maria Taylor received an “excused absence” from the Lady Bulldogs’ games against Savannah State and TCU while she was in Omaha, Neb., competing for a spot on the U.S. National in volleyball.
Taylor was among 23 collegians taking part in the tryouts held in conjunction with the semifinals and championship of the NCAA Tournament. Taylor has experience at the national level as a member of the USA Select Team last summer.
Landers now Peach State’s winningest college hoops coach
With the Lady Bulldogs’ 79-69 victory over Georgia Tech on Dec. 3, Andy Landers passed Roger Kaiser as the state of Georgia’s winningest college basketball head coach.
Kaiser amassed a combined 663-233 record and won four NAIA national titles in 29 seasons at West Georgia College and Life University.
“He has four big W’s that I don’t have,” Landers said. “He’s the king. I’m just a friend of his.”
Kaiser was a two-time All-American guard at Georgia Tech (1960-61) and is one of only six Yellow Jacket basketball players to have his jersey retired. He went on to average 22.9 points while playing for Washington, New York and Philadelphia in the ABA from 1961-63 before beginning his coaching career.
Kaiser compiled a 381-186 record at West Georgia between 1970-90, including winning the 1974 NAIA national title. He completed his collegiate coaching career at Life University in metro Atlanta from 1990-2000. He started the program there from scratch and was 282-47 and won NAIA national titles in 1997, 1998 and 2000.
In a Lady Bulldog side note, Kaiser was also AD at Life and hired former Georgia player and then-assistant Sharon Baldwin to start the women’s basketball program at Life. Baldwin, now Sharon Baldwin-Tener, moved from there to be the head coach at Mercer and is now the head coach at East Carolina.
Lady Dogs’ depth receives a boost
After playing the first five games of the season with only seven players, two additional Lady Bulldogs saw their first action of the year on Nov. 29 against Memphis.
Maria Taylor, a 6-1, forward, from Alpharetta, Ga., joined the squad after the completion of Georgia’s volleyball season on Nov. 24. She scored five points, grabbed seven rebounds and blocked two shots in her first appearance with the Lady Dogs.
Tasha Humphrey also checked in for the first time during 2006-07 versus the Lady Tigers. Humphrey had been suspended for the first six games of the season for violation of team rules; however, Andy Landers chose to reduce that punishment by a half game.
Said Andy Landers: “She made a mistake, which is not good, but the way she handled the consequences was very good.”
Humphrey checked in with about 17:30 left in the game and played the remainder of the contest. She scored 11 points and pulled down six rebounds during that span.
“M” is for Memphis...“M” is for Milestone
Georgia’s Nov. 29 victory over Memphis included three significant milestones in the program’s storied history.
1. With the win, Georgia secured its 700th victory all-time, making the Lady Bulldogs the 15th NCAA Division I women’s hoops program to reach that plateau.
2. Andy Landers recorded his 663rd victory at UGA, tying him with Roger Kaiser as the winningest college basketball coach in the state of Georgia’s history.
3. Ashley Houts tied the Lady Bulldog single-game record with 10 thefts. Houts matched the mark originally established by Adrienne Shuler against Howard on Feb. 22, 1989, and then equaled by Kedra Holland-Corn vs. Virginia on Dec. 4, 1996 and Sherill Baker against Mississippi State on Jan. 19, 2006.
Houts a thief from the get-go
Half of Ashley Houts’ school record-tying 10 steals were recorded in the first 4:08 against Memphis. With 15:48 remaining in the first half – it took her four seconds to get to the other end and make the lay-up – Houts already had five steals and nine points.
More on the 700 Club
Georgia became the 15th NCAA Division I school to post 700 victories in women’s basketball with its Nov. 29 win over Memphis.
The Lady Bulldogs have been passing other institutions on the NCAA’s all-time wins list on a relatively impressive clip. UGA was the 22nd institution to post its 500th victory, a 97-63 thumping of Manhattan on Dec. 1, 1998. Georgia was then the 17th school to reach the 600-victory plateau with a 73-62 decision over Alabama on Feb. 21, 2002.
“In some ways, it speaks of two things,” Landers said. “Seven-hundred, while it’s a big number, your men’s basketball programs have many, many more wins than that. On one hand, it speaks to the youth, if you will, of women’s basketball at the collegiate level. On the other hand, when you make the statement that this is one of 15 programs that has been able to win 700 games, it speaks to the credibility and the success of Georgia Basketball.”
The Lady Bulldogs have made up considerable ground since woeful beginnings.
UGA was 37-85 in six seasons of competition before Andy Landers’ arrival as the Lady Dogs’ first full-time head coach. Georgia was 662-208 under Landers when it hit 700 Ws.
A second 700 in November
The Lady Bulldogs became the second University of Georgia athletic team to notch its 700th all-time victory during the month of November. The Bulldog football team recorded its 700th win with a 37-15 thumping of No. 5 Auburn on Nov. 11.
Interestingly, the Lady Dogs then notched No. 701 against Georgia Tech just eight days after the UGA football team collected its 701st all-time win versus the Jackets.
Help arrives from volleyball team
The Georgia volleyball team completed its 2006 schedule on Nov. 24 and about 12 hours later Maria Taylor found herself at practice on a different type of hardwood.
Taylor suited up for the Stanford game but did not see action. She was an all-state performer in both sports at Centennial High in Alpharetta. Taylor led Georgia this season in games played (107) and kills (484). In fact, her kills per game average of 4.52 ranked No. 2 in the SEC and No. 36 nationally and was more than twice as much as any other Bulldog. She also was second on the squad in digs (274) and blocks (82).
Taylor had hoped to join the Lady Dogs last season when injuries depleted Georgia’s post depth but could not due to an SEC rule which prevented student-athletes who sign a scholarship in a sport other than football or basketball from playing football or basketball before their junior year...the old joke being that it prevented Bear Bryant from signing 300-pound divers who conveniently found their way from the pool to the offensive line.
That rule was amended at the 2006 SEC Spring Meetings, paving the way for Taylor to play basketball as well. For the record, Taylor has been placed on a basketball scholarship, a stipulation of the NCAA regarding student-athletes participating in multiple sports.
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Landers gets WBB Hall nod
In a move overdue in the minds of most supporters of Lady Bulldog Basketball, it was announced at the State Farm Tip-off Classic that Andy Landers has been elected to the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame.
The Class of 2007 was officially introduced at halftime of the Lady Dogs’ thrilling victory over No. 11 Rutgers on Nov. 12. Landers delayed his trek to the Lady Bulldogs’ locker room to be recognized and received a rousing cheer from the Oklahoma fans.
“I’m certainly excited and pleased for a lot of reasons,” Landers said. “It really hasn’t hit me and sunk in yet, and I really don’t think it will until the ceremony in Knoxville early next year. I understand what it means. It means that I’ve been fortunate to be at a place where you can succeed at the highest level. I’ve been fortunate to be surrounded by a lot of people – coaches, staff and players – who could make that happen. That’s where it comes from. I’m not of the impression that it’s anything that any one person did.”
Landers began his head coaching career at Roane State Community College in Harriman, Tenn., where he led Roane to an 82-21 record and a pair of top-10 national junior college finishes in four seasons.
Landers was only 26 years old when he was hired as the first – and still only – full-time women’s basketball head coach at UGA. The Lady Bulldogs have had 27 consecutive winning seasons, including 22 20-win campaigns.
“Coach Landers has proven himself to be one of the most successful coaches of all time,” Teresa Edwards said. “The game of women’s basketball would not be the same without him. I don’t think the game would have the same zeal or lust or competitiveness it has without Coach Landers. He brings such intensity to the game. The qualities and characteristics he instills in his players go far and beyond any other coach I’ve ever had. I’m so happy for him. I’ve always thought I’d be happiest for him when he won a national championship, but I think this may be even better. This speaks to his overall success instead of that of one team. It’s not like he’s dead and gone, which is what this sounds like I’m talking about. He’s got a lot of fire left in him, and I hope he’ll continue coaching for many more years so he can have the same influence on other players that he’s had on me.”
Record-setting tube time
Georgia will appear on TV 14 times during the 2006-07 regular season. That tally is the most ever in the program’s history, two more than last season.
To date, the Lady Bulldogs are 3-1 on television this season.
The Nov. 12 victory over Rutgers was the first of two appearances on espn2. Georgia’s date with Tennessee on February 5 in Knoxville will air on “the deuce” as part of the network’s traditional “Rivalry Week.”
The Lady Bulldogs also will have two national appearances on FOX SportsNet – their Nov. 26 victory over No. 11 Stanford and the Tennessee matchup in Athens this Sunday, while FOX SportsNet South will televise dates against Florida State (Jan. 21), LSU in Athens (Feb. 1), Kentucky (Feb. 15) and Auburn (Feb. 18).
CSS will show four games regionally, Georgia’s victory over Florida on Jan. 4, as well as dates tonight at Mississippi State, at Alabama (Feb. 8) and vs. South Carolina (Feb. 11). Matchups at LSU (Jan. 7) and at Florida (Jan. 28) will be televised by COX and SunSports, respectively.
Georgia inks four early
Andy Landers signed four high school seniors – Brittany Carter, Jasmine Lee, Angela Puleo and Nicole Stroud – to national letters of intent to play for the Lady Bulldogs during the NCAA’s early signing period. That quartet already has been ranked as one of the nation’s top-10 recruiting classes by several different services.
“We added four players that bring balance and versatility to our program,” Landers said. “The balance being that we added two from the backcourt and two from the frontcout. The versatility is that I believe all four of them could play at least two positions for us, which doubles the chances of them being able to come in and fit in and contribute.”
Carter, a 5-9, guard from Newton County High School in Covington, Ga., is listed as the No. 21 recruit by the All-Star Girls Report and at No. 27 by scout.com.
Lee, a 6-2, forward from Jess Lanier High School in Bessemer, Ala., has been ranked as the nation’s No. 78 prospect by the All-Star Girls Report.
Puleo, a 5-9, guard from William Blount High School in Maryville, Tenn., is rated as the No. 40 prospect by Blue Star Recruiting and the No. 49 recruit by scout.com.
Stroud a 6-3, forward from Avondale High School in Avondale Estates, Ga., is ranked No. 37 by Blue Star and No. 65 by the All-Star Girls Report.
