Georgia, Vanderbilt Set for Thursday Meeting

Georgia Lady Bulldogs (10-5, 1-1 SEC) vs. Vanderbilt (11-4, 1-1 SEC)
Thursday, Jan. 9, 2020 | 7 p.m. ET
Stegeman Coliseum (10,523) | Athens, Ga.
Radio: Bulldog Sports Network (Jeff Dantzler) WXKT 103.7FM and 960 AM The REF
TV: None
Stream: SEC Network + (Matt Stewart and Dean Keener)

No.	Name	PPG	RPG
Georgia Lady Bulldogs Possible Starters
Coach: Joni Taylor
90-49 in 5th season at UGA
90-49 in 5th season overall
2	Gabby Connally	13.1	3.4
G; 5-6; Jr.; San Antonio, Texas
23	Que Morrison	6.1	4.4
G; 5-7; Jr.; Riverdale, Ga.
11	Maya Caldwell	9.7	3.5
G; 5-10; Jr.; Charlotte, N.C.
3	Stephanie Paul	7.3	4.5
F; 5-10; Sr.; Naples, Fla.
14	Jenna Staiti	9.5	5.6
C; 6-4; R-Jr.; Cumming, Ga.

TEAM COMPARISON

GEORGIA LADY BULLDOGS		VANDERBILT COMMODORES
65.3	Scoring	72.9
41.7%	FG%	46.2%
28.6%	3FG%	30.4%
39.7	Rebounds	43.9
13.9	Assists	14.7
3.8	Blocks	3.9
7.5	Steals	10.2
59.0	Scoring Def.	59.9
36.4%	FG% Def.	36.2%
32.6%	3FG% Def.	25.9%
+4.0	Reb. Margin	+9.6
-1.1	T/O Margin	+0.4
0.8	Ast-T/O Ratio	0.7

Game Promotions

Halftime performance by the BMW RC Race team

Opening Tip

Georgia hosts the Vanderbilt Commodores at 7 p.m. ET this Thursday at Stegeman Coliseum. The contest will air on SEC Network +, with Matt Stewart and Dean Keener on the call.
The Lady Bulldogs have won four-straight meetings against these two programs. Georgia owns a 39-27 advantage in the all-time series, including a 20-7 mark in Athens. The Lady Bulldogs have not lost to Vanderbilt at home since Feb. 10, 2011, when Vanderbilt defeated Georgia, 69-59, in Stegeman Coliseum.
Georgia has won seven of its last 10 games this season, with the team's only losses during this stretch coming to top-20 squads (No. 6 Baylor, No. 10 UCLA and No. 14 Mississippi State). The Lady Bulldogs' strength of schedule ranks No. 18 nationally.
Senior forward Stephanie Paul has led Georgia in scoring in each of the first two SEC contests, scoring 18 points at Ole Miss and 15 against Mississippi State. Paul played a season-high 33 minutes against MSU.
Georgia trailed Mississippi State by just one point -- 48-47 -- going into the fourth quarter this past Sunday. MSU began the fourth period on an 8-0 run to close the game. The Lady Bulldogs shot a season-best 51 percent from the floor in the loss.
Georgia ranks third in the SEC in free-throw percentage, hitting 73.9 percent from the line as a team. Last season, the Lady Bulldogs finished the year ranked 12th in the league in free-throw percentage.
Preseason All-SEC guard Gabby Connally has scored in double figures in 16 of her last 20 games and has started 45-straight contests.

Series History

Overall: Georgia leads, 39-27
In Athens: Georgia leads, 20-7
In Nashville: Vanderbilt leads, 13-12
Neutral Sites: Tied, 7-7
Current Streak: Georgia has won four-straight
Last Meeting: Georgia W, 71-64 (1/6/19)
Largest Margin of Victory: Georgia W, 81-52 (1/4/18)
Largest Defeat: Vanderbilt W, 80-50 (1/16/94)
Full Series History

Scouting Vanderbilt

Stephanie White, who is in her fourth year as head coach at Vanderbilt, has guided her team to an impressive turnaround this season. A year after finishing with a 7-23 record, the Commodores are currently 11-4 overall. A big reason for this year's success is Athens, Greece native Mariella Fasoula. The 6-foot-5 forward leads the team in scoring and rebounding with 15.6 ppg and 8.0 rpg. Vanderbilt ranks seventh in the nation in total rebounds (658) and No. 17 nationally with 43.9 rebounds per game.

Last Time Out Against Vanderbilt

Gabby Connally scored a season-high 29 points to lead the Lady Bulldogs to a 71-64 win against Vanderbilt in Nashville last season. Connally hit 8-of-14 from the field and a perfect 8-for-8 from the free-throw line to pace all scorers in the game. The win came in early January last season and improved Georgia's record to 2-0 in SEC play at that time.

Up Next for Georgia

The Lady Bulldogs make the trek north to Knoxville to take on the Tennessee Lady Vols at 1 p.m. ET on Sunday. That game will air nationally on the SEC Network.

Freshmen Posts Play Well in SEC Opener

Freshmen forwards Javyn Nicholson and Jordan Isaacs played valuable minutes in the first SEC game of their careers against Ole Miss on Jan. 2. Isaacs knocked in two shots in the second half, each giving Georgia the lead in a tie game. Nicholson played 25 minutes, including all 10 in the fourth quarter, and finished with nine boards. She has totaled nine or more boards in each of the last three games.

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 13 or more games this season.

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 990 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 third with a 73.9 percent clip.

Winning Trends

The Lady Bulldogs are 8-0 when leading at halftime and 9-1 when winning the rebounding battle this season. The team averages 50.4 points per game in five losses, compared to 72.7 points per game in 10 wins.

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.

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.

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

Jordan Cole

Gabby Connally

Caitlin Hose

Shaniya Jones

Que Morrison

Javyn Nicholson

Stephanie Paul

Jenna Staiti

University of Georgia Athletics