Georgia Opens SEC Play in Oxford

Georgia Lady Bulldogs (9-4) vs. Ole Miss Rebels (7-6)
Thursday, Jan. 2, 2020 | 7:45 p.m. ET
The Pavilion (9,500) | Oxford, Miss.
Radio: Bulldog Sports Network (Jeff Dantzler) WXKT 103.7FM and 960 AM The REF
TV: SEC Network Whip-Around Coverage (Seth Austin and Lindsay Roy)
Stream: SEC Network +

No.	Name	PPG	RPG
Georgia Lady Bulldogs Possible Starters
Coach: Joni Taylor
90-48 in 5th season at UGA
90-48 in 5th season overall
2	Gabby Connally	13.5	3.3
G; 5-6; Jr.; San Antonio, Texas
23	Que Morrison	5.5	4.5
G; 5-7; Jr.; Riverdale, Ga.
11	Maya Caldwell	10.1	3.6
G; 5-10; Jr.; Charlotte, N.C.
3	Stephanie Paul	5.8	4.2
F; 5-10; Sr.; Naples, Fla.
14	Jenna Staiti	10.2	5.8
C; 6-4; R-Jr.; Cumming, Ga.

TEAM COMPARISON

GEORGIA LADY BULLDOGS		OLE MISS REBELS
65.8	Scoring	64.2
41.3%	FG%	42.4%
27.7%	3FG%	33.0%
40.2	Rebounds	37.5
13.8	Assists	14.2
3.6	Blocks	3.5
7.9	Steals	8.2
58.5	Scoring Def.	61.3
36.3%	FG% Def.	37.5%
32.8%	3FG% Def.	26.3%
+4.4	Reb. Margin	-1.0-
0.3	T/O Margin	-1.5
0.8	Ast-T/O Ratio	0.7

Opening Tip

The Georgia Lady Bulldogs open 2020 with a road trip at Ole Miss this Thursday at 7:45 p.m. ET as part of the SEC Network's Whip-Around coverage.
Georgia enters SEC play having won six of its last eight games, with its only two losses during the current stretch coming to top-10 teams Baylor and UCLA. The Lady Bulldogs' strength of schedule is currently ranked No. 21 nationally in the latest NCAA RPI release.
This is the fifth time in the last seven years Georgia has opened SEC play on the road. The last time the Lady Bulldogs opened against Ole Miss came during the 2008-09 season, when the Rebels defeated Georgia, 62-54, in Oxford.
Freshman forward Javyn Nicholson was named the SEC Freshman of the Week on Dec. 30 after posting back-to-back double-doubles in wins against Gardner-Webb and East Carolina. She is the first Georgia rookie to record consecutive double-doubles since National Freshman of the Year Tasha Humphrey did so during the 2004-05 season.
More on Nicholson ... the Georgia freshman has hit 13 of her last 15 shots (87 percent) in her last three outings against No. 10 UCLA, Gardner-Webb and East Carolina.
Junior guard Gabby Connally leads Georgia with 13.5 points per game. She has scored in double figures 10 times this season and in 14 of her last 18 games overall. The San Antonio native has also started 43-straight contests.
Georgia's bench has outscored its opponents in all but three matchups (NC A&T, Georgia Tech and Baylor). In the last two contests against Gardner-Webb and East Carolina, the Lady Bulldogs' bench owns an 83-13 advantage.

Series History

Overall: Georgia leads, 35-13
In Athens: Georgia leads, 19-1
In Oxford: Georgia leads, 10-9
Neutral Sites: Georgia leads, 6-3
Current Streak: Georgia has won 9 of last 11
Last Meeting: Georgia W, 78-56 (2/18/19)
Largest Margin of Victory: Georgia W, 96-54 (1/16/03)
Largest Defeat: Ole Miss W, 88-59 (2/1/92)
Full Series History

Scouting Ole Miss

Ole Miss is in its second season under the leadership of Yolett McPhee-McCuin. The Rebels are 7-6 this season and are coming off a 93-66 win against Alabama State. Deja Cage leads her team with 13.0 points per game, while Dominique Banks paces the squad with 7.0 rebounds per contest. Ole Miss has used nine different starting-lineup combinations this season as six different Rebels have led the team in scoring on separate occasions.

Georgia Reaches Milestone in Win

Georgia's win against East Carolina marked the 90th victory of head coach Joni Taylor's five-year head coaching career. The Lady Bulldogs have also totaled 989 all-time wins and are looking to become one of 15 programs nationwide to reach the 1,000-win mark.

Free-Throw Numbers Improve for Lady Bulldogs

As a team, Georgia has hit 80 percent or better from the free-throw line six times this season. The Lady Bulldogs only hit that 80 percent mark six times all of last season (30 games) . After finishing the 2018-19 campaign ranked 12th in the SEC in free-throw percentage, Georgia is currently ranked second with a 74.3 percent clip.

Winning Trends

The Lady Bulldogs are 8-0 when leading at halftime and 8-1 when winning the rebounding battle this. Offensively, Georgia is 9-0 when it scores 60 points or more. The team averages 46.5 points per game in four losses, compared to 74.3 points per game in nine wins.

Advantage in the Paint

Georgia has outscored its opponents in the paint in all but three games (vs. Kennesaw State, Baylor and UCLA), owning a 414-304 point advantage. In three-straight wins from Nov. 26-Nov. 30, the Lady Bulldogs owned a 116-60 edge, including a 44-26 advantage against Virginia Tech.

Nicholson, Hose Step Up Gardner-Webb

Sophomore guard Caitlin Hose and freshman forward Javyn Nicholson each played their best games of the season against Gardner-Webb on Dec. 22. Hose tallied a career-best 14 points, while Nicholson led all scorers with a career-high 22-point effort. Hose also knocked in a career-high five field goals, including a pair of 3-pointers in the win.

Shaniya Shines

It was quite the debut for redshirt-sophomore guard Shaniya Jones this past Sunday against Furman. Jones came off the bench to score 11 quick points in the second quarter, knocking down four of her first five shots in the period. Jones finished with 20 points in just 14 minutes of action against the Paladins.

The High Point, N.C., native was a highly-regarded, top-100 player out of high school and transferred to Georgia from Virginia Tech in January, 2019.

Connally Earns SEC Player of the Week

Gabby Connally averaged 18.5 points per game, hit 12-of-22 shots (54.5%) from the field, 4-of-8 from 3-point range, and a perfect 9-for-9 from the free-throw line in wins against Butler and Virginia Tech. Those performances helped the San Antonio native earn SEC Player of the Week.

Top-25 Success Under Taylor

Georgia has won nine games against top-25 opponents during head coach Joni Taylor's tenure. Georgia's last win against a top-10 team in Athens came in Coach Taylor's first season, when the Lady Bulldogs knocked off No. 10 Mississippi State, 47-43.

Peach State Players

Georgia's roster features seven players from the state of Georgia. During the initial signing period, the Lady Bulldogs inked Brunswick native Zoesha Smith, who will be the 10th Georgian that head coach Joni Taylor has signed during her five years at the helm of the program.

SEC's Youngest team Continues to Grow

With eight players who were either freshmen or sophomores, last year's Lady Bulldog basketball team was the youngest in the Southeastern Conference. This year's squad is starting to jell as Georgia's lineup has featured 11 players that have played in 11 or more games this season.

Pair of Two-Sport Stars

Georgia's roster this season features a pair of two-sport athletes -- the Lady Bulldogs' first since ESPN-star Maria Taylor played both basketball and volleyball. Incoming freshman Chloe Chapman plays soccer and basketball, while senior Stephanie Paul will compete on the track team, with her specialty being the discus.

All-Time Lady Bulldog Two-Sport Athletes
Tina Price -- 1975-78 -- Women's basketball/Tennis
Donna Noonan – 1975-77 – Women's basketball/Golf
Beth Timmons – 2000 – Women's basketball/Swimming
Maria Taylor – 2007 -- Women's basketball/Volleyball
Chloe Chapman – present – Women's basketball/Soccer
Stephanie Paul – present – Women's basketball/Track (discus)

Chapman Named to Soccer's SEC All-Freshman Team

Chloe Chapman put together a remarkable year on the soccer field as she led Georgia with six goals on her way to placing on the SEC All-Freshman Team. The Mitchellville, Md., native was named SEC Freshman of the Week after scoring two goals on the road at Missouri. She also notched Georgia's lone goal in a draw at then-No. 6 Arkansas.

Georgia Approaching Unique Milestones

Georgia has a long and storied history, dating back to the 36-year tenure of Hall of Fame head coach Andy Landers. As the Lady Bulldogs enter the 2019-20 campaign, the program is nearing its 1,000th win and is also approaching the 500-victory mark inside Stegeman Coliseum. Georgia boasts a 989-432 overall record since the 1973-74 season and can become one of just two SEC schools (joining Tennessee) and one of 14 programs nationwide to reach 1,000 victories. The Lady Bulldogs boast a 490-109 all-time record at Stegeman Coliseum.

Lady Bulldogs Sign Pair of Highly-Touted Prospects

Sarah Ashlee Barker — a guard from Birmingham, Ala. — and Zoesha Smith — a forward from Brunswick, Ga. — have signed national letters of intent with the Georgia Lady Bulldogs basketball program. Each are highly-rated recruits who will join the Lady Bulldogs as freshmen, beginning with the 2020-21 season. According to espnW, Barker is a four-star recruit and ranked in the top-25 nationally among guard prospects. The same recruiting service tabbed Smith as the No. 23 overall forward in the nation.

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).

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Players Mentioned

Maya Caldwell

Chloe Chapman

Gabby Connally

Caitlin Hose

Shaniya Jones

Que Morrison

Javyn Nicholson

Stephanie Paul

Jenna Staiti

University of Georgia Athletics