Georgia Hosts No. 13 Tennessee on Alumni Reunion Weekend

January 11, 2019 | Women's Basketball

Game Notes

Georgia Lady Bulldog Basketball Game Notes
Georgia (11-5, 2-1 SEC) vs. #13 Tennessee (12-3, 1-2 SEC)
Sunday, Jan. 13 | 3 p.m. ET
Stegeman Coliseum (10,523) | Athens, Ga.
Radio: Georgia Bulldogs Sports Network - 960 AM in Athens (Jeff Dantzler); Sirius 94, XM 190, SiriusXM app 961
TV: ESPN2 (Pam Ward and Carolyn Peck)
SEC Network +

Complete Game Notes (PDF)

Probable Starters

Pos	No.	Name	PPG	RPG

Georgia Bulldogs
Coach: Joni Taylor
74-37 (4th year) at UGA
74-37 (4th year) overall
G	0	Taja Cole	11.1	5.2
5-8; RS-Jr.; Richmond, Va./Louisville
G	2	Gabby Connally	13.3	1.9
5-6; So.; San Antonio, Texas/Brandeis HS
G	1	Donnetta Johnson	2.6	2.0
5-11; Fr.; Queens, N.Y./Baldwin HS
F	3	Stephanie Paul	7.4	5.6
6-1; Jr.; Naples, Fla./Community School of Naples
F	4	Caliya Robinson	13.6	8.0
6-3; Sr.; Marietta, Ga./McEachern HS

TEAM COMPARISON

GEORGIA LADY BULLDOGS		TENNESSEE LADY VOLS
68.6	Scoring	80.4
44.1%	FG%	44.1%
31.6%	3FG%	34.9%
41.4	Rebounds	45.3
16.4	Assists	15.2
6.8	Blocks	3.7
8.1	Steals	10.4
55.2	Scoring Def.	65.2
34.7%	FG% Def.	39.3%
27.3%	3FG% Def.	32.1%
+8.1	Reb. Margin	+12.1
+0.1	T/O Margin	+2.6
1.0	Ast-T/O Ratio	0.9

Game Promotions

'Red Out' - Fans are encouraged to wear red to Sunday's game
Free Pizza! The first 200 students in attendance will receive free pizza

Opening Tip

Georgia welcomes the No. 13-ranked Tennessee Lady Volunteers at 3 p.m. ET this Sunday as part of Alumni Reunion Weekend. The contest will air on ESPN2 with Pam Ward and Carolyn Peck on the call.
Close to 40 former Lady Bulldogs will be in attendance for Sunday's game, and they will all be honored during a special presentation in the second quarter. Among those coming back to Athens is four-time Olympic gold medalist Teresa Edwards.
Georgia enters the game against Tennessee after taking sixth-ranked Mississippi State down to the wire on Thursday. Georgia built a 68-65 lead with just under seven minutes remaining but missed its last 10 shots as State held on for the 80-71 win.
The Lady Bulldogs' late lead against Mississippi State marked only the second time this season the Bulldogs from Starkville have trailed in the fourth quarter (trailed by 11 to Oregon in only loss of the year).
Most of Georgia's success against Mississippi State was in the paint. MSU came into Thursday's game with an impressive +27-points per game advantage in the paint. Georgia matched the Bulldogs, 42-42, in that category.
Georgia is a perfect 9-0 at home this season. The last time Georgia started 10-0 at home was during the 2014-15 campaign.

Series History

Overall: Tennessee leads, 50-16
In Athens: Tennessee leads, 14-9
In Knoxville: Tennessee leads, 22-4
Neutral Sites: Tennessee leads, 14-3

SEC's Winningest Programs Face Off

Tennessee and Georgia are the winningest programs in Southeastern Conference history. The Lady Vols rank No. 1 among conference teams in all-time in wins with 1,356, while the Lady Bulldogs are second with 973 total victories.

Last Matchup in Athens a Good One

When these two teams last met at Stegeman Coliseum on Feb. 5, 2017 (Super Bowl Sunday), the Lady Bulldogs won a double-overtime thriller, 81-78, against Tennessee. Then Georgia sophomore Caliya Robinson earned espnW National Player of the Week honors following her 28-point effort in the win.

Robinson, Staiti Create Impressive Post Combination

Georgia senior Caliya Robinson and redshirt-sophomore Jenna Staiti form one of the top frontcourt tandems in the SEC. Staiti is second in the league in blocks with 37 total this season, while Robinson ranks fourth (32).

In the last five games, Staiti is shooting 61 percent (25-of-41) from the floor and 80 percent from 3-point range (4-of-5) to average 12.4 points per game over that span.

Lady Bulldogs Among Nation's Elite in Blocks

As a team, Georgia ranks third nationally (behind SEC foes Mississippi State and South Carolina) in blocks with 108 total and 6.8 per game. Against MSU on Thursday, Georgia blocked a season-high 11 shots in the game.

SEC's Youngest Team Starting to Jell

With eight underclassmen and just four upperclassmen, the Lady Bulldogs are the youngest team in the Southeastern Conference. All eight of Georgia's freshmen and sophomores have seen valuable playing time as each has averaged over 10 minutes played per game. Sophomore Malury Bates, who was averaging 16.1 minutes played per contest, is out for the year with a torn ACL.

Over the last five games, Georgia's top scorers are sophomores Jenna Staiti and Gabby Connally. Connally leads the way with 17.2 points per game, while Staiti averages 12.4 ppg.

First Starts for Numerous Lady Bulldogs

Georgia has used six players that had never started a game prior to this season in this year's rotation. Among those is sophomore guard Gabby Connally, who has started each of Georgia's 16 games. The Lady Bulldogs' three freshmen have each started at least one game this year, with Donnetta Johnson receiving the nod in four of the last five contests.

Georgia One of SEC's Best Defensive Teams

Georgia paces the SEC in field-goal percentage defense, holding teams to just 34.7 percent shooting from the floor. The Lady Bulldogs rank second in both 3-pt. field-goal percentage defense (27.3 percent) and scoring defense (55.3 ppg).

Lady Bulldogs Add Top Prospects in 2019 Signing Class

The initial signing period was a good one for the Lady Bulldogs as Georgia signed three players who are among some of the best in the nation. Currently, the Lady Bulldogs' 2019 class ranks 14th overall by ESPNW.

Mitchellville, Maryland native and five-star guard Chloe Chapman was the first to ink with Georgia. Chapman, a five-star prospect, is the No. 28 overall recruit and No. 7 point guard according to ESPNW. Later in the week, Georgia announced the signing of five-star forward Javyn Nicholson from Lawrenceville, Georgia. Nicholson is ranked No. 6 among the country's top power forwards. Another Georgia native, Jordan Isaacs from Alpharetta, rounds out Georgia's class. She is a five-star player according to Prospects Nation and No. 14 overall forward according to ESPNW.

This past week, Georgia inked Virginia Tech transfer Shaniya Jones, who was a four-star guard in the 2018 class. She is on campus and will be an eligible sophomore at the conclusion of the 2019 fall term.

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