University of Georgia Athletics
Lady Bulldogs Host Vanderbilt
February 09, 2011 | Women's Basketball
Feb. 9, 2011
Lady Bulldog Basketball Game Notes
Georgia vs. Vanderbilt
Thursday, February 10 at 7:00 p.m.
Stegeman Coliseum in Athens, Ga.
CSS TV
Georgia Bulldog Radio Network (AM 960 in Athens)
The basics
The No. 24-ranked Georgia Lady Bulldogs enter a key stretch of their SEC slate on Thursday evening when they host Vanderbilt at Stegeman Coliseum at 7 p.m.
The Lady Bulldogs are 18-5 overall and 8-2 in SEC play, second in the league standings. Four of Georgia's next five games are against the teams in first (Tennessee), tied for third (Vanderbilt and Kentucky) and in fifth (Auburn) places.
Also included in the upcoming quintet of contests is a Sunday visit to Ole Miss. Though Georgia owns a comfortable 26-11 lead in its all-time series with the Lady Rebels, Ole Miss owns a 7-6 edge in games played in Oxford.
Georgia begins its difficult run with the Commodores. Vanderbilt sports a 16-7 overall record and a 7-3 mark in SEC action. The Commodores' extremely balanced attack features four players averaging between 12.2 and 12.8 ppg.
"Vanderbilt may be a little more focused inside than they have been recently," Andy Landers said. "They're very good inside and you have to be conscious of what they can do down low, but as we do that we have to watch for the three-ball because they're a very good outside shooting team as well."
Series history vs. Vanderbilt
Georgia owns a 30-23 lead in its all-time series with Vanderbilt, including a 15-6 mark at Stegeman Coliseum.
Last season in Nashville, Vanderbilt used a 16-0 run midway through the second half en route to a 66-44 victory over No. 6 Georgia, ending the Lady Bulldogs' school-record win streak to begin the season at 16 games.
Jasmine James paced Georgia's offense with 10 points.
Vanderbilt led virtually the entire first half and gradually built a nine-point, 23-14 lead with 7:37 remaining in the period.
The Lady Bulldogs trimmed that margin to three on a three-point play by Angel Robinson at the 4:47 mark, but Merideth Marsh knocked down consecutive threes in a span of 62 seconds to give the Commodores a nine-point edge once again.
From that point, Georgia closed the half on a 5-0 run that pulled the Lady Bulldogs within 31-27 at the intermission.
Vanderbilt stole the inbounds pass to begin the second half, however, and scored the first four points of the period.
The Lady Bulldogs did pull within six points on four separate occasions - lastly at 46-40 with 10:56 remaining - but could not get any closer.
In the most recent match-up in Athens on Jan. 22, 2009, Ashley Houts scored 18 points and Angel Robinson added 17 points and 14 rebounds as the Lady Bulldogs secured a 66-55 victory.
Robinson scored a dozen points in the first 11:53 as Georgia raced to a 25-10 advantage and led by a comfortable margin most of the rest of the way.
Last time out...
Georgia raced out to a 10-0 lead and never looked back in an 81-54 Super Bowl Sunday win over Alabama.
The win gave Andy Landers the 850th victory of his coaching career - becoming just the fifth member of the exclusive club of major college women's hoops coaches to reach the milestone that also includes Pat Summitt, Jody Conradt, C. Vivian Stringer and Sylvia Hatchell.
Georgia was led by Khaalidah Miller's 22 points, while Anne Marie Armstrong (16), Porsha Phillips (12), and Meredith Mitchell (10) also reached double figures.
Phillips chipped in 14 rebounds to lead Georgia to a season-high 52 on the glass, compared to just 31 for the Crimson Tide.
"We rebounded the ball better starting the game," Landers said. "Anne Marie and Porsha both got the ball, but they also left some points on the table. They were both active, got the ball under the rim and scored early."
Georgia got off to the fast 10-0 start on the strength of back-to-back threes from Armstrong in a span of just 23 seconds.
"Anne Marie's two threes helped create the separation," Landers said.
Georgia rattled off a 12-1 run that increased the advantage to 21, 39-18, with 2:47 to go before halftime, and it remained a 20-point lead at the break, 41-21.
Miller tallied 13 of her game-high 22 in the second half, including a three with 54 seconds left that matched Georgia's largest lead of the game at 29, 81-52.
The rookie from Atlanta went 8-of-10 from the floor and hit a trio of three-pointers on the afternoon, scoring double figures for the 10th time this season and reaching 20 points for the second occasion.
Flashback: record start ends
Last season's 16-0 start to begin the campaign that Vanderbilt snapped was the Lady Bulldogs' best opening 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 in 2009-10; 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.
The 16-game winning streak also is the fourth-longest overall string of success in the Lady Bulldogs' history, four shy of the school record.
"J.J." enjoys day off vs. Bama
Jasmine James did not play against Alabama on Feb. 6 in an effort to allow a sprained right wrist - originally suffered at No. 20 Arkansas on Jan. 13 - time to heal.
James has played with her wrist wrapped for six games and, in fact, led the Lady Bulldogs' offensively against Florida, at South Carolina and versus Arkansas in Athens during the span.
The "DNP" was the first of James' career and snapped a streak of 55 consecutive starts dating back to the second game of her collegiate career.
James was available to play against the Crimson Tide; however, she enjoyed the day off after the Lady Bulldogs raced to a 10-0 start and maintained a comfortable lead throughout the contest.
Miller again honored by SEC
Khaalidah Miller was named the SEC Freshman of the Week on Monday for the third time in a six-week span.
Miller averaged a team-best 15.5 points in victories over Arkansas and Alabama last week. She did so by shooting impressive percentages of 61.1 from the field, 54.5 from three-point range and 75.0 from the free throw line.
Miller also was named SEC Freshman of the Week on Jan. 3 after averaging 13.0 ppg in games against Louisiana Tech, FIU and South Carolina and on Jan. 10 as after she scored 24 points - the single-game high by any Georgia player this season - in a 61-59 win at No. 10 Kentucky.
"Not only did Khaalidah play well last week, she's played a little bit better every week, which is what you want and hope for with a freshman," Andy Landers said Jan. 4. "I think this honor validates the improvements and adjustments she's made since she got here."
All told, seven different Lady Bulldogs have combined to earn SEC Freshman of the Week honors 18 times since the award's inception in 2006. Jasmine James tied the SEC record for most Freshman of the Week certificates last season with five.
"Po" betters boarding average
After collecting a season-low four rebounds at LSU on Jan. 30, Porsha Phillips almost slipped under the double-double average she has sported the entire season. Through 21 games, Phillips had 211 boards, one more than needed to average 10.0 rpg.
Phillips responded with 18 rebounds against Arkansas and then hauled in 14 versus Alabama to up her average back to a healthy 10.6 rpg.
The last Lady Bulldog to average a double-double was McClain, who did so en route to winning National Player of the Year.
All told, four different Lady Bulldogs have averaged a double-double for a season on seven occasions - McClain in 1986-87 and in 1985-86 (21.3 ppg, 10.1 rpg); Janet Harris in 1984-85 (20.6 ppg, 10.3 rpg), 1982-83 (20.4 ppg, 11.7 rpg) and 1981-82 (22.1 ppg, 12.4 rpg); Wanda Holloway in 1980-81 (14.1 ppg, 10.6 rpg) and Cynthia Collins in 1979-80 (14.5 ppg, 10.1 rpg).
Landers earns win No. 850
Andy Landers' secured the 850th win of his coaching career with the Lady Bulldogs' victory over Alabama on Super Bowl Sunday.
Landers is the only full-time women's basketball head coach in the University of Georgia's history and has a 768-253 record in 32 seasons. Prior to arriving in Athens 1979, Landers was 82-21 in four seasons at Roane State College in Harriman, Tenn.
To date, only four coaches - Pat Summitt, Jody Conradt, C. Vivian Stringer and Sylvia Hatchell - have reached the 850-win mark. Hatchell did so with a Jan. 30 win over Virginia Tech.
And before you say "Huh?"
Anyone wishing to confirm the aforementioned numbers would probably consult the 2011 NCAA Records Book and say..."Hey, this has Landers with 750 wins entering 2010-11. What gives?"
Well in our mind, that total is not quite completely accurate.
Georgia politely disagrees with the NCAA on what constitutes Landers' complete career record.
The NCAA does not recognize Landers' 82 wins at Roane State, a junior college in Harriman, Tenn., because they were not earned at a four-year institution.
Therefore, the NCAA says Landers' "career" includes only his efforts at Georgia.
UGA chooses - and has since 1979 - to include Landers' Roane State results as part of his record. In fact, Roane played numerous four-year schools during Landers' tenure and more than a third of his victories there - 33 wins - came against four-year colleges. Roane compiled a 33-1 record versus four-year institutions under Landers.
80-point mark improves
With their victories over Indiana (84-51), Mercer (92-45) and Alabama (81-54) in Athens, the Lady Bulldogs improved one of the greatest statistical markers you'll find.
Georgia upped its record to a staggering 425-7 when scoring 80 or more points during Andy Landers' 32 seasons at UGA.
That converts to an almost unfathomable 98.3796296 winning percentage.
Record number of TV dates
A Lady Bulldog-record 15 regular-season games will be televised during the 2010-11 season.
That tops the previous high of 14 in 2006-07 and 2009-10.
Including this regular season, the Lady Bulldogs will have appeared on TV 158 times in the 2000s.
O'Connor assists Pink Zone
Former Lady Bulldog Lisa O'Connor conducted a ceremonial tip-off prior to the Alabama game, which also served as Georgia's participation in the Women's Basketball Coaches Association's (WBCA) Pink Zone.
O'Connor was chosen to do so because of her own personal experience with breast cancer. She was diagnosed last summer and recently completed a successful series of radiation treatments.
A native of Cartersville, Ga., O'Connor was a four-year starter on teams that won three SEC titles, reached two Final Fours and finished as NCAA runner-up in 1985. Among Georgia Basketball's career leaders, O'Connor completed her playing days ranked No. 2 in games started (126), No. 4 in points (1,509) and No. 5 in rebounds (728). Today, she ranks No. 5 in starts and No. 15 in scoring.
"Lisa O'Connor is one of the most important players in Georgia Basketball history," Andy Landers said. "Most people know that Lisa had a great career here, but what they don't realize is that she was perhaps the greatest leader we've ever had. From 1982-86, in many ways Lisa O'Connor ran Georgia Basketball."
The Pink Zone initiative is a global, unified effort by the WBCA to assist in raising breast cancer awareness on the court, across campuses, in communities and beyond. The Pink Zone in 2007, with the late Kay Yow, former N.C. State coach, serving as the catalyst after her third reoccurrence of breast cancer in 2006. In four years, Pink Zone has raised nearly $3.3 million for cancer research.
Upon further review...no record
Following the Arkansas game on Feb. 3 it was announced that Porsha Phillips' 18 rebounds versus the Razorbacks represented the most ever by a Lady Bulldog against SEC. Unfortunately, that was an erroneous statement.
While attempting to determine the second-most boards in SEC play, a 23-rebound effort by Wanda Holloway against Vanderbilt on Feb. 16, 1981 was discovered.
Still, Phillips' effort ranks No. 2 in Georgia history versus an SEC foe and was the most boards by a Lady Bulldog in league action in 13 days shy of two decades.
Valuing the rock
Georgia committed a season-low eight turnovers in the Lady Bulldogs' longest game of the season, their 57-54 overtime decision against Arkansas on Feb. 3. The previous low was 12 against LSU, Florida and Georgia Southern.
In fact, that tally is Georgia's fewest TOs in a game since committing seven against Iowa in the first round of the 2008 NCAA Tourney.
Major doses of PT
Meredith Mitchell, Porsha Phillips and Jasmine James all logged more than 40 minutes of action in the Lady Bulldogs' overtime win against Arkansas.
Mitchell played 44 minutes, equaling her career high established against Oklahoma State in the second round of last season's NCAA Tournament.
Phillips was on the floor for a career-high 42 minutes, besting her previous most minutes played of 38 set three times - against Louisana Tech, TCU and Southern Cal.
James garnered 41 minutes of action, a season-best. She had played all 40 minutes of four regulation games this season - versus Arkansas in Fayetteville, South Carolina, FIU and Louisiana Tech.
Looking good, not so good
In a three-game stretch to end January, the Lady Bulldogs were polar opposites on the offensive and defensive ends of the floor.
Georgia successively supplied its lowest first-half scoring marks of the 2010-11 season. The Lady Bulldogs scored 23 first-half points at South Carolina, followed by 21 at LSU and 20 against Arkansas.
Georgia's final output of 48 points in Columbia represented the lowest production of the year...for three days until the Lady Bulldogs scored 41 at LSU.
Georgia defeated Arkansas despite shooting a season-low 28.6 percent from the floor.
Speaking of 28.6 percent shooting for a winning team, that's what LSU produced from the field in its victory over UGA.
All told, Georgia held the Gamecocks, Lady Tigers and Razorbacks to 33.3 percent shooting, which was even better than the Lady Bulldogs' 35.6 percent FG defense at that point that ranked fourth in the SEC.
On the bright side, the Lady Bulldogs' offense has produced considerably good looks during the stretch.
According to shot charts, Georgia missed 48 lay-ups and shots in the paint in the three aforementioned contests.
Winning isn't everything...
but it is all Georgia's Lady Bulldogs have done under Andy Landers.
With a Jan. 23 victory over Mississippi State in Athens, the Lady Bulldogs guaranteed their 32nd straight winning season under Landers.
Landers' streak at UGA is the second longest all-time among Division I women's basketball head coaches.
Georgia's streak of 32 winning seasons is the fourth longest active stretch in the nation, behind Louisiana Tech and Tennessee (both with 38), and Wisconsin-Green Bay (34). Those also are the only programs to finish with a winning record every season since women's hoops came under the auspices of the NCAA in 1981-82.
