University of Georgia Athletics
Lady Bulldog Game Notes: UGA vs. Mercer
December 05, 2011 | Women's Basketball
Dec. 5, 2011
The Basics
Date: Tuesday, December 6
Tipoff: 7:00 p.m. ET
Location: Macon, Ga.
Arena: University Center (3,200)
Video: None
Radio:
* Georgia Bulldog Radio Network (AM 960 The Ref in Athens and 103.7 FM from Gainesville) Jeff Dantzler - play-by-play
Series:
* UGA leads 16-12 including a 92-45 win last season on Dec. 7
* UGA leads 7-5 in Macon including a 65-57 win in the last meeting on Feb. 1, 1993
* MU won 11 of the first 12 games; UGA has won 15 of the last 16
Lady Bulldogs trek to Mercer
The No. 14-ranked Georgia Lady Bulldogs return to action for the second time in 53 hours on Tuesday when they make the relatively short jaunt to Macon to take on Mercer.
On Sunday, Jasmine Hassell's career-high 24-point outburst powered Georgia to a 75-68 victory over Georgia Tech. The Lady Bulldogs improved to 30-4 all-time against the Yellow Jackets...and 125-84 against intrastate competition.
Georgia's record versus Peach State foes took a dramatic turn after Andy Landers was named as the Lady Bulldogs' first - and still only - full-time head coach in 1979.
In the six seasons prior to Landers' arrival in Athens, Georgia was just 26-67 (.280) against home state opponents. In his 33 campaigns at UGA, Georgia has compiled a 99-17 (.853) mark versus in-state schools.
Series history with the Bears
Georgia owns a 16-12 lead in its all-time series with Mercer, including a 7-5 mark in Macon.
Mercer's dozen wins over Georgia are the most of any in-state school.
Last season in Athens, Khaalidah Miller's 16 points led five Lady Bulldogs in double figures in a 92-45 victory over the Bears.
In addition, Meredith Mitchell and Porsha Phillips chipped in 13, Tamika Willis added 11 and Anne Marie Armstrong contributed 10.
In the most recent game in Macon, on Feb. 1, 1993, Camille Lowe returned to her hometown and scored 15 points and Deborah Reese chipped in 14 as Georgia defeated the Bears, 65-57. Andrea Congreaves poured in a game-high 27 points for Mercer.
Quoting Coach Landers
On the Mercer game...
"It's an opportunity for us to keep moving the in the direction we need to go in. There are some issues that I don't feel like everyone has addressed. And there are some issues that I think we've addressed some but not all of the time. Those are issues that if addressed make us better. I'm a little bit concerned about coming off of a win on Sunday and turning around playing on Tuesday, but it's what we have to do."
On Mercer head coach Susie Gardner...
"It will be good to see her. I don't particularly enjoying playing against former players. I wish I had another Susie now. I wish I had two or three because she ranks in the upper echelon of committed basketball players that we've ever had. Susie probably spent as much time if not more as anyone I've ever coached in the gym by herself working on basketball skills. Her commitment and investment were terrific. I also know she has as much pride as anyone in what the Georgia program accomplished when she was here and what its continued to accomplish."
A rivalry renewed
The Lady Bulldogs and Bears, who played just once in 15 years prior to last season's matchup, were once regular foes and often contested home-and-home dates in the same season.
Mercer was a perennial powerhouse during the 1970s, winning six GAIAW state championships between 1973-82 and advancing the AIAW National Tournament during the 1972-73 campaign.
Mercer won 11 of its first 12 meetings with the Lady Bulldogs prior to Andy Landers' arrival. Since then, Georgia has won 15 of 16 dates.
A friendly face on the other bench
Mercer head coach Susie Gardner was a four-year letterwinner on some of the greatest Georgia teams ever in the mid-80s.
Gardner was a guard on UGA squads that compiled a 116-17 record, won the 1983, 1984 and 1986 SEC titles, reached the 1983 Final Four and was 1985 NCAA runner-up.
Gardner scored 485 points, dished out 110 assists and collected 78 steals in 92 games played for Georgia from 1982-86. That scoring tally most definitely would have been higher if Gardner played with the three-point arc on the floor. Gardner, who Andy Landers calls one of the Lady Bulldogs' greatest pure shooters ever, hit 47.7 percent of her FGs...with a large majority of those attempts being from long-range.
Last Time Out...
Jasmine Hassell scored a career-high 24 points and recorded six rebounds and one assist to lead No. 15 Georgia to a 75-68 victory against Georgia Tech Sunday afternoon.
"Jasmine was terrific tonight," Andy Landers said. "She played well on the defensive end of the court and shot about as well as anyone could shoot. She went out there and went after rebounds that she hasn't gone after before. She's really becoming a better rebounder."
Hassell connected on 9-of-10 shots from the floor and 6-of-7 attempts at the line en route to her career outing.
Meredith Mitchell led the Lady Bulldogs on the boards with seven rebounds. She also contributed 10 points, three assists and one block. Jasmine James notched 12 points, five rebounds and five steals.
Hassell keyed a second-half run that helped the Lady Bulldogs to victory, She scored eight straight Georgia points in a span of 2:39 as UGA expanded its lead from three to nine.
The Lady Bulldogs led by 11 with 2:28 remaining but missed five straight free throws as the Yellow Jackets pulled within 71-68 with 34 seconds left.
Mitchell hit one of two free throws before a defensive stop followed by a pair of Hassell free throws pushed the lead back to six with 18 seconds left.
A milestone victory
One of the most significant victories in the Lady Bulldogs' storied history was an 87-85 overtime win against Mercer secured on Jan. 12, 1980, Andy Landers' initial campaign in Athens.
That win represented Georgia's first-ever victory over a ranked opponent. Mercer entered the contest at No. 21 in that week's Associated Press poll.
Two players who followed Landers from Roane State Community College to Athens led the Lady Bulldogs. Bernadette Locke scored 19 points, and Teresa Duncan chipped in 15, including the game-winning lay-up with one second remaining in OT.
A second Westlake reunion
For the second time in just nine contests, Tamika Willis will face a former high school teammate in game action.
Willis and Mercer sophomore Sharnea Boykin played together for three seasons at Westlake High School in College Park, Ga.
Willis also squared off against Boykin's Westlake classmate, Georgia Southern's Danielle Spencer on Nov. 15 in Statesboro.
Willis, Boykin and Spencer helped the Lady Lions compile a stellar 75-8 record from 2006-09, including trips to the state semifinals in 2008 and the quarterfinals in both 2007 and 2009.
A balanced attack
Six different Lady Bulldogs have led Georgia offensively this season.
Jasmine James and Jasmine Hassell have paced Georgia a team-best three times.
Anne Marie Armstrong, Jasmine Hassell, Erika Ford, Khaalidah Miller and Meredith Mitchell also have led the Lady Bulldogs on the offensive end.
Seven of 10 Lady Bulldog to see action this season have scored in double figures at least once. All told, those seven players have a combined 26 double-digit performances.
Lady Bulldogs hit "magic number"
Georgia has furthered one of the greatest statistical indicators in any sport three times this season.
The Lady Bulldogs put up 83 points against TCU in the opener, 81 versus Northeastern and 85 against S.C. State...and in the process improved to 428-7 when scoring 80 or more points during Andy Landers' 33 seasons in Athens.
That converts to an almost unfathomable winning percentage of .983908045.
Freshman starters sorority grows
Krista Donald and Erika Ford added their names to an impressive list of first-year Lady Bulldogs to start for Andy Landers on Nov. 27 against Northeastern. Donald and Ford became the 68th and 69th freshmen to get the nod in Landers' 33 seasons at UGA.
Ford certainly made the most of her opportunity, posting game- and career-high tallies of 18 points and seven rebounds. Donald chipped in seven points (on 3-of-4 shooting from the floor), five rebounds and a team-best four assists.
"I thought they played very well," Landers said. "I thought Ford was great defensively and very good offensively...same thing with Donald."
