WBB Game Notes: Georgia Looks for 6-0 Start Against Marquette

Georgia Basketball Game Notes

#21 Georgia Lady Bulldogs (5-0) vs. Marquette Golden Eagles (4-1)
Saturday, Nov. 27 | 2:15 p.m. ET
Daytona Beach, Fla. | The Ocean Center
Radio: Georgia Bulldog Sports Network (Kaleb Frady) 1340 AM WGAU | Affiliates
TV: None
Video Stream: FloHoops.com (Corey Brooks and Jennifer George)
Audio Stream: georgiadogs.com
History: tied, 1-1 (Full History)
Last Meeting: W, 104-60 (1/11/1995)

Opening Tip Storylines

Georgia faces the Marquette Golden Eagles at 2:15 p.m. ET Saturday in the final game of the 2021 Daytona Beach Invitational. Fans can watch the game on FloHoops.com or listen to Kaleb Frady on the Georgia Bulldog Sports Network (1340 AM WGAU and the Georgia Bulldog App).

The Lady Bulldogs are looking to start 6-0 for the second-straight season and for the third time under head coach Joni Taylor.

Georgia enters the game after knocking off previously unbeaten Notre Dame. Friday's win against the Irish featured 16 ties and 10 lead changes. Georgia trailed 67-63 with 1:48 remaining, but ended the contest on an 8-0 run.

Junior guard Chloe Chapman scored a career-high10 points against Notre Dame. She was clutch when it mattered most with six of her points coming in the fourth quarter.

Georgia's bench outscored Notre Dame, 29-8. The Lady Bulldogs' bench owns a 163-57 advantage this season — a plus-21 point per-game margin. Georgia also held Notre Dame to a season-low 67 points. The Irish entered Friday's game averaging 85.6 points per game.

Georgia's defense has been stifling this season. The Lady Bulldogs entered this tournament leading the SEC in scoring defense at 45.3 ppg and field-goal percentage defense at 26.2 percent.

Graduate center Jenna Staiti has now scored in double figures in 36 of the last 42 games.

Senior Mikayla Coombs finished just two steals shy of setting a new school record. Coombs totaled eight steals — seven of those coming in the first half — against Notre Dame.

Georgia is in the midst of a tough stretch of games. Following Marquette, the Lady Bulldogs travel to Texas Tech next Thursday and host Georgia Tech next Sunday. After a matchup against North Florida, Georgia heads to No. 5 North Carolina State.

Series History

Georgia and Marquette have met just twice prior to Saturday's affair. The series is tied at 1-1, with the last contest coming in 1995 — a 104-60 Georgia win in Athens. Former Lady Bulldog Tracy Henderson scored a game-high 24 points, while La'Keshia Frett added 19 points. That win improved Georgia's record to 12-0 as the Lady Bulldogs rolled all the way to the Final Four.

Scouting the Opponent: Marquette

Marquette is 4-1 this season with the only loss coming on the road to Colorado. The Golden Eagles defeated Middle Tennessee, 59-55, Friday in the opening game of the Daytona Beach Invitational. They returned seven letter winners and three starters off last year's team that finished 19-7 overall and 14-4 in the BIG EAST. 2020 BIG EAST Coach of the Year Megan Duffy is leading Marquette through one of the greatest stretches in program history. Karissa McLaughlin leads the Golden Eagles with 14.2 points per game.

Block Party In Athens

The Lady Bulldogs set a new school record with 18 blocks in the win against Alabama State. That total broke a 34-year old record from 1987, when Georgia had 16 against Mercer. The Lady Bulldogs' 18 swats are tied for the second-most in a game in SEC history.

Nicholson Arrives to Daytona Riding Fast Start

Sophomore forward Javyn Nicholson already has a pair of double-doubles this year after posting two double-doubles in the previous two years combined. Nicholson entered this tournament averaging 11.5 points and 9.0 rebounds per game.

Georgia Inks Elite Signing Class

Georgia's 2022 Signing Class is ranked No. 7 nationally according to ESPN. Janiah Barker and Sydney Bowles, two of the highest rated players in the nation, will join talented point guard product Tineya Hylton in Georgia's incoming class.

Barker – who is considered the No.1-ranked forward nationally and among the top-3 players overall -- is a native of Marietta, Ga. She currently preps at Montverde Academy in Florida. Bowles – a consensus top-10 guard prospect -- is from Lithonia, Ga., and plays at Woodward Academy. They will begin their collegiate careers during the 2022-23 campaign.

Hylton prepped at Hamilton Heights Christian Academy in Chattanooga, Tenn., before going back to Canada to play at Royal Crown Academic School in Toronto, Ontario. She will join the Lady Bulldogs this season.

Under 50

Georgia has held three of its first five opponents below 50 points, with Mercer held to their second-lowest total this season and Notre Dame with a season-low 67 points. Head coach Joni Taylor's teams have held opponents below 50 points 42 times over the last seven years.

Staiti Moves Into Top-5

Jenna Staiti now ranks fifth in school history with 219 career blocks. Tawana McDonald owns the program record with 297 swats during her time at Georgia. Staiti is also the SEC's active career leader in blocks.

Offensive Improvement

Head Coach Joni Taylor and her staff implemented a new offensive philosophy prior to the 2020-21 season with the goal of playing a more up-tempo style with defensive pressure.

That move has paid dividends. Since last season, Georgia has scored over 90 points four times. The Lady Bulldogs scored over 90 points just four times combined in the five seasons prior.

Georgia Picked Fourth in SEC, No. 19 in National Poll

SEC coaches voted the Lady Bulldogs fourth in the annual preseason poll, just behind South Carolina, Texas A&M and Tennessee. Georgia came in at No. 19 in the national preseason coaches poll. Last season, the Lady Bulldogs finished ranked No. 10 in the Associated Press top-25 -- its highest ranking going into the NCAA tournament since 2001.

Exceeding Expectations

Coach Taylor's teams have lived by the mantra 'It's not where you start but where you finish.' In five of her first six seasons, the Lady Bulldogs have finished well ahead of their preseason ranking. The largest jumps came in 2017-18 -- when Georgia was picked eighth and finished second -- and last season -- when the team was picked ninth and finished fourth.

Georgia's SEC Standings Under Joni Taylor

Georgia's SEC Standings Under Joni Taylor
Season	Preseason Rank	SEC Finish
2015-16	9th	6th
2016-17	12th	8th
2017-18	8th	2nd (tied)
2018-19	4th	7th
2019-20	10th	9th
2020-21	9th	4th

Staiti's Streak Continues

Jenna Staiti has become known as 'Steady Staiti' over the last two seasons -- and for good reason.

The Cumming, Ga., native has scored in double figures in 36 of her last 42 games with 14 double-doubles and nine 20-plus point efforts. It is a remarkable stat line for the All-SEC center, especially when you look back to her first two years of college basketball.

During her freshman and sophomore campaigns, Staiti averaged 4.4 ppg and 1.7 rpg in 65 total games played. Staiti has now more than tripled her points per game average to 13.2 ppg and upped her rebounds to 7.3 per contest over the past three years.

Defense Travels

Georgia has become one of the top defensive teams in the SEC during Coach Taylor's tenure. In her six seasons leading the program, the Lady Bulldogs have finished either first or second in the conference in scoring defense on three occasions, including a league-best and school record 54.1 ppg in 2015-16. Last year, Georgia ranked second in the SEC, holding opponents to 60.5 ppg. The team also finished top-5 in most defensive categories, including field-goal percentage defense, 3-point field-goal percentage defense and turnovers forced.

Not Just Defense For Morrison

Que Morrison is known as one of the top defenders in the nation as she routinely guards the opponent's top player night-in and night-out. Last year, Morrison led all players in conference play with 33 steals (2.2 per game).

The Riverdale, Ga., native has also stepped it up offensively. She has now scored in double figures in 16 of her last 18 games dating back to last season.

A Healthy Dose of Que

After suffering a string of injuries in her career, Morrison finally experienced a full healthy season for the Lady Bulldogs.

Here is a look back at some of the adversity Morrison has overcome.

The defensive stopper placed on the SEC All-Freshman Team after drawing 32 starts on Georgia's NCAA tournament team. Then, in her sophomore campaign, Morrison missed the first eight games due to a torn meniscus in her left knee. In 2019-20, she had an injury to her foot before the year began. She then suffered a torn labrum in her right shoulder to end her junior campaign midway through SEC play.

Coombs Takes on Leadership Roles

Mikayla Coombs — a native of Buford, Ga. — was selected by her peers to serve as the vice chair of the SEC Women's Basketball Leadership Council. As one of four elected officers, she will participate in various meetings throughout the year to provide feedback to Athletics Directors, Senior Woman Administrators and Faculty Athletics Representatives.

This news came after she was chosen as the only student-athlete representative on the NCAA competition committee. Coombs graduated with a degree in sport management from the University of Georgia and is currently pursuing a master's in the same program. She was named a UGA Presidential Scholar in 2020, has placed on the Athletic Director's Honor Roll three times and made the Dean's List in 2021.

Dogs Have Options Again

Georgia had one of the deepest rosters in the SEC last season. The Lady Bulldogs played 10 or more players in 23 of 28 games and used 11 or more players on 14 occasions.That trend looks to continue this year with 10 returners who could all see big minutes.

Consistency is Key

Georgia has one of the longest tenured staffs in the SEC. With the return of Karen Lange, Chelsea Newton and Robert Mosley, Georgia is the only team in the conference to not have a single coaching change at any level -- head coach or assistant coach -- over the past six years.

Chapman Sticks with Basketball

Junior guard Chloe Chapman played two seasons with the Georgia soccer team, but after spending two years as a dual-sport athlete, she will now focus on just basketball. The Mitchellville, Md., native was a consensus top-40 prospect and was rated as the No. 8 overall point guard in the nation coming out of high school.

Georgia Freshmen Already Making History

Lady Bulldog freshmen Reigan Richardson and Jillian Hollingshead were both named McDonald's All-Americans, marking the first time in Georgia history the program has signed two McDonald's All-Americans in one class. Hollingshead and Richardson are the 11th and 12th McDonald's All-Americans to sign with the Lady Bulldogs and are the first to commit right out high school since Ronika Ransford in 2010. Current Lady Bulldog Mikayla Coombs was a McDonald's All-American in 2017.

Isaacs Brings Experience

Georgia junior forward Jordan Isaacs was the only non-senior to start every game for the Lady Bulldogs last season. Isaacs made big play after big play and stepped up defensively to lead her team. She made perhaps two of the most important plays of the year for the Lady Bulldogs. One was her block on Rennia Davis' shot attempt that sealed the win against Tennessee, while the other came against Arkansas when she brought down an offensive board to set up Gabby Connally's buzzer-beater.

A Storied History

Georgia is one of just two SEC programs (Tennessee) and one of just 16 teams nationwide to reach the 1,000 win total. The Lady Bulldogs accomplished the feat last season on the road at East Carolina. It was the latest impressive accomplishment for the storied program.

The Lady Bulldogs are one of only three teams, joining Wisconsin-Green Bay and Tennessee, to have a winning record every year since 1980 and have been to 34 of 39 NCAA tournaments.

WBB Game Notes: Georgia Looks for 6-0 Start Against Marquette

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Chloe Chapman

Jordan Cole

Gabby Connally

Mikayla Coombs

Que Morrison

Javyn Nicholson

Jenna Staiti

University of Georgia Athletics

WBB Game Notes: Georgia Looks for 6-0 Start Against Marquette

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Chloe Chapman

Jordan Cole

Gabby Connally

Mikayla Coombs

Que Morrison

Javyn Nicholson

Jenna Staiti

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