University of Georgia Athletics
Game Notes: Lady Bulldogs vs. Tennessee
January 20, 2010 | Women's Basketball
Lady Bulldog Basketball
Georgia vs. Tennessee
Thursday, January 21 at 7:00 p.m.
Stegeman Coliseum (10,523) in Athens, Ga.
FSN TV
Georgia Bulldog Radio Network (AM 960 The Ref in Athens)
Reserved seat tickets for the Georgia-Tennessee game are still available. Tickets are $5 for adults and $3 for children and can be purchased at www.georgiadogs.com or at the UGA Athletic Ticket Office in the Butts-Mehre Heritage Hall Wednesday or Thursday from 8:30-4:30. Any remaining tickets will go on sale at Stegeman Coliseum 90 minutes prior to tip-off on Thursday.
UGA students, faculty and staff are admitted to all Lady Bulldog games free of charge with a valid UGA Card via Ticket Booth 4. The first 300 fans UGA students in attendance will receive free pizza and “Beat Tennessee” t-shirts.
The basics
The Georgia Lady Bulldogs and the Tennessee Lady Volunteers face off for the 54th time on Thursday night. FYI, UT recognizes a 55th matchup in 1969 before Georgia featured an intercollegiate team.
Regardless of the game count, Thursday’s contest between the Lady Bulldogs and Lady Vols at Stegeman Coliseum resembles many of the previous dates in the series – ripe with national and SEC implications.
Georgia is 17-1 overall, 4-1 in the SEC and ranked No. 8 in the AP poll this week, while Tennessee is 16-1, 4-0 in league play and occupies the No. 3 spot on the current AP ledger. All told, both teams now have been ranked at game time for 45 of those meetings, including 18 times when both squads possessed top-10 positions.
“It speaks to the quality of the two programs through the years that both Georgia and Tennessee have maintained a competitive level that few teams can match,” Andy Landers said. “It’s not unusual for us to play games of this magnitude.”
And while the national scope of a top-10 matchup may create the most sizzle, don’t underestimate the game’s importance on the SEC level, where the Lady Vols and Lady Bulldogs are 1-2 in league standings.
Series history vs. Tennessee
Tennessee sports a 39-14 lead in the overall series, including a 11-7 mark at Stegeman Coliseum.
The Lady Volunteers at the lone SEC team with a winning record over Georgia. On the flip side, the Lady Bulldogs’ 14 victories over the Lady Vols represents the second-most by any program...trailing Louisiana Tech’s 17. Andy Landers has accounted for all of Georgia’s victories in the series, giving him more victories over Tennessee than any other coach.
A year ago in Knoxville, the Lady Bulldogs opened up an early 12-7 edge before a 13-0 run gave Tennessee the lead for good. The Lady Vols led by eight at halftime and used a 9-0 run to open the second stanza to build a comfortable cushion.
In the most recent matchup in Athens on March 2, 2008, Georgia lost for only one of two times when leading at halftime during 2007-08 as Tennessee secured a 72-63 victory. After four ties in the first 7:55 of the second half, a 15-3 run put the Lady Vols up 56-44. The Lady Dogs closed to 64-59 before Tennessee used a 7-2 surge to end any doubt.
Last time out...
Ashley Houts and Jasmine James both flirted with triple-doubles in leading Georgia to a 73-63 win over Arkansas at Bud Walton Arena on Sunday.
The Lady Bulldogs opened up a 25-point edge with 5:14 remaining before Andy Landers subbed liberally and the Razorbacks closed out the contest on an 18-3 run.
“Obviously, I was disappointed with the way we played Thursday in our first loss of the season,” Landers said. “We stayed on the road and I know I haven’t been the most pleasant person to be around the past two days. To see them handle that and come out and play the way they did is very pleasing.”
Houts finished with 16 points, nine assists and eight rebounds, while James posted a career-high 10 assists, a game-high nine boards and six points. Perhaps most impressive was their 19 assist-to-three TO ratio.
Jasmine Hassell equaled her career high with 14 points (in just 15 minutes), and Meredith Mitchell added 11 points.
After Arkansas knocked down consecutive threes in the game’s first 77 seconds to jump out to a 6-0 lead, the Lady Bulldogs answered with a 7-0 run. A three-point play by Hassell gave Georgia its first lead. The freshman went on to score eight points over the next 1:24.
The Lady Bulldogs eventually pushed their advantage to nine on two occasions before the Razorbacks cut that back to one point twice. A Hassell jumper at the 6:15 mark ignited a 13-4 run to end the period that gave the Lady Bulldogs a double-digit bulge at the break.
Arkansas pulled within six points less than five minutes into the second stanza, but Georgia then answered with a 14-0 push over the next 5:19 run to essentially put the contest out of reach.
Hoops’ most complete rivalry?
It would be difficult to find two conference rivals in basketball – if not in any sport – who have met for as many significant stakes as the Georgia Lady Bulldogs and the Tennessee Lady Volunteers.
Not even North Carolina and Duke on the men’s side can approach what UGA and UT have competed for in the women’s game. Georgia and Tennessee have squared off with virtually everything imaginable – from prideful bragging rights to the game’s ultimate prize – on the line, including:
• The 1996 NCAA Championship;
• The 1995 Final Four NCAA semifinals;
• The “Elite Eight” round of the 1983 and 1984 NCAA Tournaments;
• The “Sweet 16” of the 1986 NCAAs;
• The championship game of the 1992 and 1999 SEC Tournaments.
In addition, the Lady Dogs and Lady Vols produced the only tie for the SEC title in 2000 and also finished 1-2 in the SEC standings in 1984, 1995, 1996 and 2007.
Sideline standouts
Andy Landers and Pat Summitt rank among the game’s leaders in virtually every category imaginable.
Summitt and Landers are 1-2 on several lists, including number of weeks with a team in the AP poll, NCAA Tournament bids, NCAA “Sweet 16s” and consecutive winning seasons as outlined below
Ranking Landers & Summitt
| | AP Polls | NCAAs | Sweet 16s | Winners |
| 1. Summitt | 572 | 28 | 28 | 36 |
| 2. Landers | 442 | 26 | 17 | 31 |
From humble beginnings
While large crowds and television cameras have become a relatively regular fixtures in games between Georgia and Tennessee, that wasn’t always the case.
On Dec. 17, 1980, the Lady Bulldogs and Lady Volunteers met for the first time in women’s basketball. That day, No. 6 Tennessee captured a 73-68 OT win over a then obscure bunch from Athens at the Cobb Civic Center. A packed house – all 2,811 of them – was there for the first edition of what has become one of the sport’s top rivalries.
At that point, Andy Landers and Pat Summitt had combined to record 176 wins between them at Georgia and Tennessee, respectively. Since then, they have added 1,587 “Ws” to that tally for their same employers.
Just winners, baby!
Georgia and Tennessee are two of only four NCAA Division I women’s basketball programs to post a winning record during each of the past 28 seasons – now 29 for both teams – since the sport came under the auspices of the NCAA prior to the 1981-82 campaign. UGA and UT are joined by Louisiana Tech and Wisconsin-Green Bay on that ledger.
The Lady Bulldogs, Lady Volunteers and Phoenix (UWGB) already have guaranteed winning records for the 2009-10 campaign with each team reaching 16 “Ws”, while Louisiana Tech is currently 11-4.
Balanced “O”...stellar “D”
Georgia has displayed balance on the offensive end. Six Lady Bulldogs are averaging between 6.6 and 12.6 points, while a seventh (Jasmine Hassell) has led them in scoring twice in the last month.
The Lady Bulldogs’ calling card has been their defense, however. In the latest NCAA statistics through Sunday’s games, Georgia ranks No. 4 in field goal percentage defense (.331) and No. 6 in scoring defense (51.7 ppg).
Record start snapped...
Georgia’s 16-0 start to begin the 2009-10 season was the Lady Bulldogs’ best opening to a campaign ever.
The previous mark was a 14-0 mark to begin the 1998-99 Final Four season.
All told, the Lady Bulldogs have started seven seasons with double-digit winning streaks: 16 this year, 14 in 1998-99, 13 in both 2007-08 and 1989-90, 12 in the 1994-95 Final Four season, 11 in 2001-02 and 10 by the 1985-86 SEC Championship team.
...shy of overall win streak mark
Georgia’s 16-0 start was not only the Lady Bulldogs’ best beginning ever, it also represents the fourth-longest winning streak in the program’s storied history.
The school record for consecutive wins is 20 contests during Georgia’s 1986 SEC Championship campaign. The Lady Bulldogs’ 1996 NCAA runner-up squad won 19 in a row, while the 1991 SEC Championship squad put together 18 straight wins.
“JJ” SEC FOW for fourth time
Jasmine James was tabbed as the SEC Freshman of the Week on Jan. 11, her fourth such recognition this season.
James averaged 14.0 points, 3.0 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.5 steals in victories over Kentucky and Florida. She hit the game-winning three-pointer with 17 seconds remaining in overtime versus the Wildcats and scored a game-high 17 points in the decision over the Gators.
James was named as SEC Freshman of the Week on Nov. 16, Nov. 30 and Dec. 21 as well.
James has already equaled the most Freshman of the Week recognitions by a Lady Bulldog established by Ashley Houts during the 2006-07 campaign and is just one certificate shy of the current SEC record.
James was honored initially after scoring a team-high 15 points in an upset of No. 13 Oklahoma in the season opener. She was selected again after averaging 19.7 points, 5.0 rebounds and 5.0 assists in a trio of Thanksgiving week victories. Her third honor came after posting team highs of 17 points, and 10 rebounds against No. 19 Virginia.
Five different Lady Bulldogs have combined to win SEC Freshman of the Week honors 13 times since the award was introduced in 2006.
Don’t take anything for granted
The Lady Bulldogs’ record-setting start to 2009-10 has already guaranteed their 31st straight season winning season.
Georgia is one of only four schools to post a winning record during each of the 28 seasons – now 29 for UGA – since women’s hoops came under the auspices of the NCAA with the 1981-82 season. Louisiana Tech, Tennessee and Wisconsin-Green Bay are the other three.
Andy Landers has coached the Lady Bulldogs to 31 consecutive winning seasons, the second-longest streak among Division I women’s basketball head coaches trailing only Pat Summitt’s tally of 36.
A new leading scorer...again
Ashley Houts returned to her perch as the Lady Bulldogs’ leading scorer following the Arkansas game. Houts and freshman Jasmine
James have swapped that distinction three times in the last four games.
James led Georgia in scoring from the season opener through the first 14 games of the season before Houts’ 27-point outburst against Kentucky. That effort raised Houts’ season scoring average a full point per game and also made her the Lady Bulldogs’ leading scorer.
James’ 10 points at Vanderbilt represented the only double-digit output versus the Commodores and also pushed her back atop Georgia’s scoring leaders ledger.
Houts responded with a team-high 16 points at Arkansas to again supplant her backcourt running mate.
Entering the Tennessee game, Houts is averaging 12.6 points per game, 0.4 ppg game better than James but just seven total points more than the freshman from Memphis, Tenn.
Better boarding goes South
One chink in the Lady Bulldogs’ armor early in the season – a distinct deficiency in rebounding – reared its ugly head in the Vanderbilt loss. The Commodores beat Georgia on the boards handily, 39-24.
Georgia was out-rebounded in five of its first eight games and sported a negative rebounding margin when Andy Landers politely called that detail to his team’s attention.
After that, the Lady Bulldogs won the rebound count in seven straight games before a dropping a slight 40-38 margin to Florida...the outing before VU.
Georgia’s 24 rebounds against the Commodores were it fewest in a game by a wide margin. The Lady Bulldogs’ previous season-low was 31 boards against both Rutgers and Alabama State.
Angel Robinson and Porsha Phillips, who led Georgia’s rebounding resurgence, were held in check against Vanderbilt.
Robinson and Phillips entered the contest ranking No. 1 and No. 3, respectively, in the SEC in rebounding in league games. They combined to average 23.7 rpg in Georgia’s first three conference dates but had just nine rebounds combined versus the Commodores.
Georgia did much better on the boards in Fayetteville, out-rebounding the Razorbacks, 48-43.
Landers now 500 over .500
With a Jan. 3 win at Alabama, Andy Landers improved to 739-239 in his 31 seasons as University of Georgia’s first – and still only – full-time women’s basketball head coach.
That put Landers an almost unfathomable 500 victories over .500 on the sidelines in Athens.
Lady Dogs return to AP top-10
Georgia inched up to No. 9 in the Dec. 21 edition of the Associated Press poll...a position common for Lady Bulldog Basketball historically if not of late.
The ranking represented the Lady Bulldogs’ first top-10 appearance in just under two years. Georgia was No. 10 in the Jan. 7, 2008, edition of the poll before losing to Auburn and dropping to No. 12 the next week.
Georgia has been a mainstay of both the Associated Press poll and the top-10.
The Lady Bulldogs now have been included in 442 weekly polls, a tally that ranks third nationally. During those weeks, Georgia has been included in the top-10 257 times and in the top five on 145 occasions.
