WBB Game Notes: Georgia Faces Oregon in NCAA Second Round

2021 NCAA Tournament Notes
#10/12 Georgia Lady Bulldogs (21-6, 10-5 SEC) vs. #22/23 Oregon Ducks (14-8, 10-7 Pac-12)
Wednesday, March 24 | 3 p.m. ET
NCAA Second Round | Alamo Region
Alamodome | San Antonio, Texas
SEC Tournament Bracket
Radio: Bulldog Sports Network (Jeff Dantzler) 960 AM The REF, WXKT 103.7 FM in Athens
TV: ESPN2 (Kevin Fitzgerald and Christy Thomaskutty)
Video Stream: ESPN+
Audio Stream: georgiadogs.com/Georgia Bulldogs Mobile App

JONI TAYLOR - HEAD COACH

SIXTH SEASON // RECORD: 119-64 (.650)

CAREER HIGHLIGHTS

2021 SEC Coach of the Year
2021 and 2018 Werner Ladder Naismith National Coach of the Year Semifinalist
Two-time Atlanta Tip-Off Club Georgia College Coach of the Year
2016 Spalding Maggie Dixon National Rookie Coach of the Year
Three WNBA Draft picks
Led Georgia to a 26-7 record in 2017-18, marking the team's most wins in a single season since 2006-07
Georgia hosted the NCAA first and second rounds in Athens for first time since 2003 during the 2017-18 campaign
Six All-SEC honorees and two SEC Scholar-Athletes of the Year
Created the award-winning Beyond Basketball group

No.	Name	PPG	RPG
Georgia Lady Bulldogs Most Recent Starters
2	Gabby Connally	11.5	1.8
G; 5-6; Sr.; San Antonio, Texas
23	Que Morrison	11.7	5.4
G; 5-7; Sr.; Riverdale, Ga.
11	Maya Caldwell	8.4	3.5
G; 5-11; Sr.; Charlotte, N.C.
20	Jordan Isaacs	3.7	3.4
F; 6-0; So.; Alpharetta, Ga.
14	Jenna Staiti	14.7	8.1
C; 6-4; R-Sr.; Cumming, Ga.

Opening Tip Storylines

Georgia is set to face the Oregon Ducks this Wednesday in the second round of the NCAA tournament. Tipoff is set for 2 p.m. CT on ESPN2.
This is the first meeting between these two programs since 1996. The Lady Bulldogs own a 2-0 lead in the all-time series, with both wins coming at neutral sites. These teams have never met in the NCAA tournament prior to Wednesday's game.
The Lady Bulldogs are looking for their first NCAA Sweet 16 appearance since 2013 and their 21st overall.
Georgia improved to 9-0 against non-conference opponents this season with a 67-53 victory against Drexel in the first round of the NCAA tournament.
Senior center Jenna Staiti scored 19 second-half points and hit seven of her first shots in the final 20 minutes to lead Georgia to a win against Drexel.
Georgia's bench outscored the Dragons' bench 38-10 on Monday. Guards Chloe Chapman and Caitlin Hose played big minutes. Chapman scored a season-high seven points, while Hose knocked in a pair of 3-pointers.
Senior guard Que Morrison finished two assists shy of a triple-double with 11 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists against Drexel. Morrison has scored in double figures in 12-straight games.
Georgia owns a 3-1 record in the month of March. The Lady Bulldogs advanced to the SEC tournament championship game for the first time since 2004 following wins against No. 17 Kentucky and No. 2 Texas A&M.
A group of four college graduates has led the Lady Bulldogs. Georgia's top four scorers are all seniors who have earned their college degrees and are currently pursuing master's degrees at UGA.
Head coach Joni Taylor's team once against exceeded expectations. This year's squad was picked ninth in the SEC preseason poll and finished fourth in the final standings.
Taylor was named the 2021 SEC Coach of the Year and is finalist for the Werner Ladder Naismith National Coach of the Year honor. A year after finishing with a 17-14 record, Georgia enters the tournament with a 20-6 overall mark.
Georgia was the top defensive team in the SEC this season. The Lady Bulldogs were the only squad to rank in the top-5 of the conference in every defensive category during the regular season, including scoring defense (third; 60.9 ppg), field-goal percentage defense (third; .376), 3-point field-goal percentage (second; .285), blocked shots (second; 6.3 per game), steals (fifth; 8.5 per game) and rebounding defense (fifth; 35.2 per game).

NCAA Tournament History

Georgia is one of only eight schools to advance to at least five Final Fours, doing so in 1983,1985, 1995, 1996 and 1999.
The Lady Bulldogs have earned bids to 34 of 39 NCAA Tournaments. That ties Stanford for second-most appearances.
Georgia has played in 88 NCAA tournament games, a total that ranks sixth among all Division I women's basketball programs.
Overall, Georgia has advanced to 20 Sweet 16s, 11 Elite Eights

Scouting Oregon

The Ducks have been ranked in 76-straight AP polls under the leadership of Kelly Graves. Oregon finished fourth in the Pac-12 standings behind top-25 programs Stanford, Arizona and UCLA. The team is led by a trio of double-figure scorers in Nyara Sabally, Erin Boley and T-Hina Paopao. The Ducks led the Pac-12 and ranked 10th in the nation in assist-to-turnover ratio with a 1.35 mark.

Georgia Season Notebook

Connally Back Home in San Antonio Georgia senior guard Gabby Connally returns to her hometown of San Antonio. She was a star at Brandeis High School, where she led her team in scoring all four years of her prep career. In 2017, she was named the San Antonio Express Co-Player of the Year.

Georgia In Top-10

The Lady Bulldogs enter the NCAA tournament ranked No. 10 nationally in the Associated Press Top-25. It is Georgia's highest ranking coming into the tournament since the 2000-01 campaign, when the Lady Bulldogs were No. 4 heading into postseason play.

Georgia ended the tournament ranked No. 6 nationally in 2004 and was ranked No. 10 after an Elite Eight run in 2013.

Defensive Player of the Year Heats Up Offensively

Que Morrison -- the 2021 SEC Co-Defensive Player of the Year -- has made a name for herself on the defensive side of the floor. This season, she has stepped up her game offensively, scoring in double figures in 12-straight matchups entering the NCAA tournament. Morrison had not scored in double digits in more than three-straight contests before her senior campaign.

Experienced Seniors Ready for NCAA Tourney

Georgia seniors Maya Caldwell, Gabby Connally, Que Morrison and Jenna Staiti have combined to start over 300 games in their college careers. They have all led Georgia this season while pursuing master's degrees at UGA.

This is their second trip to the NCAA tournament. Staiti -- who sat out the 2017-18 season due to NCAA transfer rules -- will be making her first appearance in the Big Dance as a Lady Bulldog.

Caldwell Moves to 4 and Scores More

Just before Georgia's regular season finale at Florida on Feb. 28, Taylor and her staff moved senior guard Maya Caldwell to the four spot when the team goes to its four-guard lineup. Caldwell has thrived, scoring in double figures in three-straight games in the best stretch of her career.

Caldwell scored a career-high 27 points against Florida, 20 versus Kentucky in the SEC quarterfinals and 19 against Texas A&M in the SEC semifinals.

Dogs Have Options

Georgia has one of the deepest rosters in the SEC. The Lady Bulldogs have played 10 or more players in 22 of 27 games entering the tournament. The Lady Bulldogs have used 11 or more players in a game on 14 occasions.

Joni Taylor A Finalist For National Coach of the Year Joni Taylor is also one of four finalists for the Werner Ladder Naismith National Coach of the Year Award. She joins Stanford's Tara VanDerveer, Texas A&M's Gary Blair and NC State's Wes Moore. Taylor is seeking to become Georgia's first National Coach of the Year Award winner since Andy Landers won the honor in 2000. The legendary Landers earned the award four times (1986, 1987, 1996 and 2000).

Taylor Earns SEC Coach of the Year Honor

Georgia head coach Joni Taylor -- who led one of the largest single-season turnarounds in school history -- was named the 2021 Southeastern Conference Coach of the Year. She has led her team to an 20-6 record, which includes wins against top-25 teams Tennessee (twice), Arkansas, Texas A&M and Kentucky.

Exceeding Expectations

Georgia was picked ninth in this year's SEC preseason coaches poll and ultimately finished fourth in the standings. Exceeding expectations is nothing new for Joni Taylor's teams. In five of her six seasons as head coach, her squads have finished ahead of their preseason rankings.

Georgia's SEC Standings Under Joni Taylor

Season Preseason 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

Lady Bulldogs Hit 60 percent

Georgia has made over 60 percent from the field twice this season, doing so in games against Mercer and Appalachian State. Prior to this season, Georgia had not shot 60 percent or better in a game since 2009.

Winning on the Road

The Lady Bulldogs are 11-2 away from home this season, including wins in its first three games of the year, marking the first time in school history Georgia has accomplished that feat. Georgia's win at Tennessee was its first in Knoxville since 1996.

Coombs is Georgia's defensive back

Redshirt junior guard Mikayla Coombs grew up wanting to play football, and she has certainly carried that passion over to the basketball floor. Coombs is second on the team in steals with 39 and has totaled three or more takeaways six times this year.

Coombs played a big role in Georgia's success at the SEC tournament. After suffering an ankle injury in the first half against No. 2 Texas A&M, Coombs came back in the game to score a career-high 14 points in the win.

Block Party for the Bulldogs

The Lady Bulldogs are second in the SEC and third nationally with 169 total blocks. Georgia averages 6.3 swats per game.

Reaching 100

Georgia scored 107 points against Appalachian State on Dec. 22. That total marked the most points by a Georgia team since the 2000-01 campaign and was the first time the Lady Bulldogs have reached the 100-point mark since 2007. The Lady Bulldogs' 95 point effort to end the regular season at Florida was the best offensive output against a SEC team since 2013.

Georgia Led League in Honor Roll Selections

The Georgia Lady Bulldogs led all Southeastern Conference basketball teams (women or men) with nine players on the league's Academic Honor Roll this past winter.

Each winter, student-athletes from across the conference are recognized for having a 3.0 GPA or above for either the preceding academic year or a cumulative grade point average of 3.0 or higher.

Focus on Community

Georgia's Joni Taylor has put a focus on community service during her six seasons as head coach. This past fall, Taylor and her team took action once again by hosting a Water Bottle Drive for the local Boys and Girls Club of Athens. The community stepped up in a big way, donating close to 150 water bottles.

"We were absolutely blown away by the turnout," Taylor said. "COVID-19 has affected all of our lives in so many ways. For the Boys and Girls Club, COVID protocols eliminated the use of water fountains, so the organization needed new, re-fillable water bottles. When our ladies found out about this, they immediately wanted to help. I could not be more proud of their efforts and the efforts of all those who came by today. It's another step forward in making a meaningful impact in our community."

WBB Game Notes: Georgia Faces Oregon in NCAA Second Round

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Maya Caldwell

Chloe Chapman

Jordan Cole

Gabby Connally

Mikayla Coombs

Caitlin Hose

Que Morrison

Jenna Staiti

WBB Game Notes: Georgia Faces Oregon in NCAA Second Round

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Maya Caldwell

Chloe Chapman

Jordan Cole

Gabby Connally

Mikayla Coombs

Caitlin Hose

Que Morrison

Jenna Staiti

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