Lady Bulldogs Visit Music City on Sunday

January 04, 2019 | Women's Basketball

Game Notes

Georgia Lady Bulldog Basketball Game Notes
Georgia (10-4, 1-0 SEC) vs. Vanderbilt (5-9, 0-1 SEC)
Sunday, Jan. 6 | 3 p.m. ET
Memorial Gymnasium (14,316) | Nashville, Tenn.
Radio: Georgia Bulldogs Sports Network - 960 AM in Athens (Jeff Dantzler)
TV: None
SEC Network + (Kevin Ingram and Jessica Holeman)

Complete Game Notes (PDF)

Probable Starters

Pos	No.	Name	PPG	RPG

Georgia Bulldogs
Coach: Joni Taylor
73-36 (4th year) at UGA
73-36 (4th year) overall
G	0	Taja Cole	10.9	5.4
5-8; RS-Jr.; Richmond, Va./Louisville
G	2	Gabby Connally	12.2	1.9
5-6; So.; San Antonio, Texas/Brandeis HS
G	1	Donnetta Johnson	2.6	2.1
5-11; Fr.; Queens, N.Y./Baldwin HS
F	3	Stephanie Paul	7.8	5.3
6-1; Jr.; Naples, Fla./Community School of Naples
F	4	Caliya Robinson	13.3	8.3
6-3; Sr.; Marietta, Ga./McEachern HS

TEAM COMPARISON

GEORGIA LADY BULLDOGS		VANDERBILT COMMODORES
68.3	Scoring	67.4
43.8%	FG%	43.1%
30.1%	3FG%	30.3%
42.5	Rebounds	35.3
17.0	Assists	14.5
6.8	Blocks	1.5
8.5	Steals	6.3
52.9	Scoring Def.	67.4
33.2%	FG% Def.	44.5%
26.3%	3FG% Def.	35.7%
+9.3	Reb. Margin	+2.9
+0.7	T/O Margin	+0.6
1.1	Ast-T/O Ratio	1.0

Opening Tip

Georgia heads to Nashville to take on the Vanderbilt Commodores at 3 p.m. ET/2 p.m. CT on Sunday. The game is available on SEC Network + with Kevin Ingram and Jessica Holeman calling the action from Memorial Gymnasium.
The Lady Bulldogs defeated LSU, 63-50, Thursday night in the team's SEC opener -- Georgia's first conference-opening win since the 2012-13 campaign. Head coach Joni Taylor's team is looking for its first 2-0 league start since the 2010-11 season.
Georgia has won three-straight games against Vanderbilt, with the last loss coming in overtime at the 2016 SEC Tournament. In addition to three consecutive victories, the Lady Bulldogs have won six of the last seven against the Commodores.
Georgia held LSU to its second-lowest scoring total of the season Thursday night. The Lady Bulldogs rank near the top of the SEC in most defensive categories, pacing the conference in both field-goal percentage defense (33.2 percent) and 3-point field-goal percentage defense (26.3 percent). Georgia's 95 total blocks ranks third nationally behind SEC foes South Carolina and Mississippi State.
In addition to its defensive numbers, Georgia's shooting has improved as of late. The Lady Bulldogs shot just 41.6 percent from the field in their first 10 games this year and have hit 49.8 percent in the last four contests. The team's 49-percent effort against LSU marked the highest percentage the Tigers have given up this season.
Redshirt-junior point guard Taja Cole leads the SEC and is seventh nationally with 6.9 assists per game. Cole has 96 total dimes this year, which is 25 more than the next closest SEC player (Evina Westbrook (UT), 71). The Richmond, Virginia native is seeking to become the first Lady Bulldog since Kelly Miller (4 times) in 1997-98 to record 10 or more assists three times in one season.

Staiti Having Success in Last Three Games

A difference maker for the Lady Bulldogs over the last three contests has been the play of redshirt-sophomore center Jenna Staiti. The Cumming, Georgia native has scored in double figures in three consecutive games for the first time in her career, averaging 14.7 ppg over that span.

Staiti has played 30 minutes or more in each of the last two games. Dating back to her time at Maryland, Staiti had never played more than 16 minutes in a single game in her career coming into the 2018-19 campaign.

Speaking of Staiti ... Block Party for Her and Robinson

Staiti and senior teammate Caliya Robinson have formed a sizable inside advantage for the Lady Bulldogs. The two have been the catalysts for a Georgia team that ranks third nationally in blocked shots with 95. Robinson is the SEC's active career blocks leader with 246 in her three and a half seasons, while Staiti ranks second in the league this year with 31 total blocks.

Georgia Continues Unselfish Play

The Lady Bulldogs are currently second in the SEC in both total assists (238) and assists per game (17.0) as a team.

During head coach Joni Taylor's tenure, Georgia has finished no worse than third when it comes to assists. In 2015-16, Georgia led the league in dimes, before finishing second in 2016-17 and third in 2017-18.

Young Pups

With eight underclassmen and just four upperclassmen, the Lady Bulldogs are the youngest team in the Southeastern Conference. Six of Georgia's freshmen and sophomores (minus Malury Bates and Que Morrison due to injury) are seeing valuable playing time and are each averaging right at or more than 10 minutes per game.

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 starting lineup rotation. Among those is sophomore guard Gabby Connally, who has started each of Georgia's 14 games. The Lady Bulldogs' three freshmen have each started at least one game this year, with Donnetta Johnson receiving the nod in the last three contests.

Connally In Best Stretch of Her Career

For the first time in her career, sophomore guard Gabby Connally scored in double figures in five-straight games, including two 20-point efforts from Dec. 2-21. Connally averaged 15.8 points per game over that five-game span.

Against LSU on Thursday, she hit 3-of-4 shots from behind the arc to finish with 13 points. Connally is shooting 54 percent (7-of-13) from 3-point range over the last three games.

Georgia Has Led in All Four Losses

In each of Georgia's four losses this season, the Lady Bulldogs have led in the game. Against UCLA, Georgia built a 12-point advantage and led for over 30 minutes. Against Tech, the Lady Bulldogs led by five points, while they erased a 15-point deficit against Maryland to build a two-point advantage late in the second half. Against Villanova the Lady Bulldogs led by seven in the first quarter. In four losses, Georgia was outscored in the fourth quarter, 74-56.

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 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.

FOLLOW THE LADY BULLDOGS

For more information on the Georgia Lady Bulldogs, follow the team on Twitter (@UGA_WBB), Instagram (@uga_wbb) and Facebook (Facebook.com/UGAWomensBasketball).