University of Georgia Athletics
Opportunities Abound For Lady Bulldogs
September 23, 2024 | Women's Basketball, The Frierson Files
By John Frierson
Staff Writer
Katie Abrahamson-Henderson knows everyone watching basketball these days wants to see offense and 3-pointers. And Georgia's third-year coach, who is entering her 20th season as a head coach, wants to see more of both from the Lady Bulldogs this season.
Regardless of whether or not a team has a Caitlin Clark or Steph Curry, however, playing good defense is very important to Coach ABE.
"I think winning teams play defense, period. I don't know any college coach that won't say that. I think a lot of people only like to watch offense, but if you're going to win, you have to play defense. I think that's been our staple since I've been a head coach," she said Monday prior to the Lady Bulldogs' first official practice of the season.
"Offense gets fans and 3-point shooting gets fans and all those things, and it's fun to watch, but holding people down to 60 points or under is big."
Georgia begins practice with a squad that has a lot of different faces from the team that went 12-18 last season. Only two of Georgia's top nine scores from last season are back, guards De'Mauri Flournoy and Asia Avinger. Flournoy scored 8.9 points per game, shooting 31.% from the field and 26.7% from 3-point range, while Avinger averaged 7.8 points on 34.3% (overall) and 30.9% (3s) shooting. No other returning player averaged 3.0 points per game, which means opportunity abounds for the returners and the newcomers.
"De'Mauri and Asia have, obviously, the most playing experience," Coach ABE said. "Asia looks amazing; she's strong, healthy, she's fast, she's aggressive, she's ready to have a great senior season. You can just tell that the game has slowed down in their heads when they play."
An interesting statistical note from last season is that Georgia in the third and fourth quarters was even with its opponents in points scored. The Lady Bulldogs and their opposition each scored 514 points in the third quarter and Georgia was outscored by a single point, 498-497, in the fourth. It was in the opening two quarters that the Lady Bulldogs fell behind, getting outscored 499-446 in the first and 478-428 in the second.
For the season, Georgia averaged 63.2 points per game, 3.7 fewer than it allowed — and that's despite making more field goals, 729-725, than it allowed. The big difference came in 3-point shooting, with the Lady Bulldogs hitting 105 of 382 attempts and the opposition going 215 of 665 from long range.
Georgia's best offensive weapon last season was Javyn Nicholson, a fifth-year post player who had a breakout season with a team-high 16.8 points per game on 47.4% shooting. Nicholson only attempted one 3 all season.
While Georgia will still need size in the post, and it has some returning and new options there, the team may primarily go with a four-guard lineup, Coach ABE said.
"Now we have a lot more guards and that's going to open up a lot. We're going to be able to do a lot of special things," she said.
Along with Flournoy and Avinger, Georgia returns redshirt sophomore Savannah Henderson, a 6-foot-3 guard and Coach ABE's daughter. Henderson missed nearly all of her freshman season with an injury and was limited to 15 games last season.
Georgia also brought in three freshman guards that could make an immediate impact: 5-6 Trinity Turner, from Orlando, and 5-9 twins Summer and Indya Davis, from West Bloomfield, Mich. All three were four-star, top-100 prospects, according to ESPN, and all three were standout players on high school teams that won state championships last season.
Turner earned multiple Florida player of the year honors, won a pair of Class 7A state championships, and as a senior averaged 18.8 points, 8.1 rebounds and 5.6 assists per game. Coach ABE said she first saw Turner in person when she was an eighth-grader, when Turner's team played her daughter's team,
"She was an eighth-grader and killed us. I was like, Oh, my gosh, who is this kid?" Coach ABE said.
As for the Davis twins, Indya was the 2023 Michigan Gatorade Player of the Year and Summer won the prestigious award in 2024. They were initially committed to Michigan State, but when the Spartans had a coaching change, Georgia began recruiting them heavily and they signed with the Lady Bulldogs.
"To me, they are Dawgs," Coach ABE said. "They play super hard. ... They're super talented. We got really blessed and lucky they de-committed from Michigan State when that coach left."
When Coach ABE and her staff arrived two years ago, they brought with them several veterans from their UCF squad to play their final seasons at Georgia. Last season, the coaches "knew it was going to be a transition year," Coach ABE said, and the Lady Bulldogs were also hampered by injuries to Zoesha Smith, who averaged 9.9 points and 5.2 rebounds through 16 games before a knee injury, and Henderson.
"I think moving forward this year, our culture's in. It is in. I can't even explain what the energy's like and the difference is coming into practice every day," she said. "I think everybody wants to win, and we're going to win by committee. It's not going to be one person. ... That's fun, that's fun basketball."
The Lady Bulldogs open their season on Nov. 4, against North Carolina Central at Stegeman Coliseum.
Staff Writer
Katie Abrahamson-Henderson knows everyone watching basketball these days wants to see offense and 3-pointers. And Georgia's third-year coach, who is entering her 20th season as a head coach, wants to see more of both from the Lady Bulldogs this season.
Regardless of whether or not a team has a Caitlin Clark or Steph Curry, however, playing good defense is very important to Coach ABE.
"I think winning teams play defense, period. I don't know any college coach that won't say that. I think a lot of people only like to watch offense, but if you're going to win, you have to play defense. I think that's been our staple since I've been a head coach," she said Monday prior to the Lady Bulldogs' first official practice of the season.
"Offense gets fans and 3-point shooting gets fans and all those things, and it's fun to watch, but holding people down to 60 points or under is big."
Georgia begins practice with a squad that has a lot of different faces from the team that went 12-18 last season. Only two of Georgia's top nine scores from last season are back, guards De'Mauri Flournoy and Asia Avinger. Flournoy scored 8.9 points per game, shooting 31.% from the field and 26.7% from 3-point range, while Avinger averaged 7.8 points on 34.3% (overall) and 30.9% (3s) shooting. No other returning player averaged 3.0 points per game, which means opportunity abounds for the returners and the newcomers.
"De'Mauri and Asia have, obviously, the most playing experience," Coach ABE said. "Asia looks amazing; she's strong, healthy, she's fast, she's aggressive, she's ready to have a great senior season. You can just tell that the game has slowed down in their heads when they play."
An interesting statistical note from last season is that Georgia in the third and fourth quarters was even with its opponents in points scored. The Lady Bulldogs and their opposition each scored 514 points in the third quarter and Georgia was outscored by a single point, 498-497, in the fourth. It was in the opening two quarters that the Lady Bulldogs fell behind, getting outscored 499-446 in the first and 478-428 in the second.
For the season, Georgia averaged 63.2 points per game, 3.7 fewer than it allowed — and that's despite making more field goals, 729-725, than it allowed. The big difference came in 3-point shooting, with the Lady Bulldogs hitting 105 of 382 attempts and the opposition going 215 of 665 from long range.
Georgia's best offensive weapon last season was Javyn Nicholson, a fifth-year post player who had a breakout season with a team-high 16.8 points per game on 47.4% shooting. Nicholson only attempted one 3 all season.
While Georgia will still need size in the post, and it has some returning and new options there, the team may primarily go with a four-guard lineup, Coach ABE said.
"Now we have a lot more guards and that's going to open up a lot. We're going to be able to do a lot of special things," she said.
Along with Flournoy and Avinger, Georgia returns redshirt sophomore Savannah Henderson, a 6-foot-3 guard and Coach ABE's daughter. Henderson missed nearly all of her freshman season with an injury and was limited to 15 games last season.
Georgia also brought in three freshman guards that could make an immediate impact: 5-6 Trinity Turner, from Orlando, and 5-9 twins Summer and Indya Davis, from West Bloomfield, Mich. All three were four-star, top-100 prospects, according to ESPN, and all three were standout players on high school teams that won state championships last season.
Turner earned multiple Florida player of the year honors, won a pair of Class 7A state championships, and as a senior averaged 18.8 points, 8.1 rebounds and 5.6 assists per game. Coach ABE said she first saw Turner in person when she was an eighth-grader, when Turner's team played her daughter's team,
"She was an eighth-grader and killed us. I was like, Oh, my gosh, who is this kid?" Coach ABE said.
As for the Davis twins, Indya was the 2023 Michigan Gatorade Player of the Year and Summer won the prestigious award in 2024. They were initially committed to Michigan State, but when the Spartans had a coaching change, Georgia began recruiting them heavily and they signed with the Lady Bulldogs.
"To me, they are Dawgs," Coach ABE said. "They play super hard. ... They're super talented. We got really blessed and lucky they de-committed from Michigan State when that coach left."
When Coach ABE and her staff arrived two years ago, they brought with them several veterans from their UCF squad to play their final seasons at Georgia. Last season, the coaches "knew it was going to be a transition year," Coach ABE said, and the Lady Bulldogs were also hampered by injuries to Zoesha Smith, who averaged 9.9 points and 5.2 rebounds through 16 games before a knee injury, and Henderson.
"I think moving forward this year, our culture's in. It is in. I can't even explain what the energy's like and the difference is coming into practice every day," she said. "I think everybody wants to win, and we're going to win by committee. It's not going to be one person. ... That's fun, that's fun basketball."
The Lady Bulldogs open their season on Nov. 4, against North Carolina Central at Stegeman Coliseum.
Assistant Sports Communications Director John Frierson is the staff writer for the UGA Athletic Association and curator of the ITA Men's Tennis Hall of Fame. You can find his work at: Frierson Files. He's also on Twitter: @FriersonFiles and @ITAHallofFame.
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