2005-06 Season in Review
23-9 Overall, 10-4 SEC (3rd)
Final Record: 23-9 Overall, 10-4 SEC (3rd)
Rankings: No. 12 AP, No. 13 ESPN/USA Today
Signees: Amber Holt, Ashley Houts, Christy Marshall, Jaleesa Rhoden
Landers' Lady Bulldogs enjoy yet another stellar campaign
The 2005-06 campaign added another successful chapter to the stellar record of Lady Bulldog Basketball. Georgia earned its 12th consecutive NCAA Tournament bid and advanced to the "Sweet 16" for the 16th time during Andy Landers' tenure in Athens. Overall, the Lady Dogs have reached 23 of 25 NCAA Tourneys.
What would be landmark achievements for any athletic program have become virtual commonplace for the Lady Dogs.
Since the 1994-95 season when the NCAA streak began, the Lady Dogs have accomplished more than most women's basketball teams have to their credit as a whole, including:
Nine "Sweet 16s" (1995-96-97-99- 2000-03-04-05-06);
Six "Elite Eights" (1995-96-97-99- 2000-04);
Three Final Fours (1995-96-99);
Finishing as 1996 NCAA runner-up;
Compiling a 29-12 (.707) record in NCAA Tournament games.
Injury Bug Bites Lady Dogs Hard
Making Georgia's 2005-06 accomplishments even more remarkable was the fact that the Lady Bulldogs' frontcourt depth was decimated during the pre-season.
Georgia lost players measuring 6-6, 6-5, 6-3 and 6-2 before the regular-season opener, forcing starting forwards Tasha Humphrey and Megan Darrah to play out of position with only one back-up.
The Lady Bulldogs' eventually settled on a talented but short playing rotation with four players logging more than 31 minutes of action per game.
Baker, Humphrey Lead The Way
Senior guard Sherill Baker and sophomore forward Tasha Humphrey provided the Lady Bulldogs with the nation's most potent 1-2 scoring punch during the 2005-06 season.
Humphrey averaged 20.2 points per game, which ranked No. 2 in the SEC and No. 15 nationally. Baker averaged 18.7 points per game, which ranked No. 3 in the SEC and No. 22 nationally.
The "Queen of Thieves"
Sherill Baker enjoyed one of the most spectacular defensive seasons in the history of Lady Bulldog Basketball and the Southeastern Conference.
The lightning-quick 5-8 guard led the nation in steals at 4.7 per game.
In the process, Baker broke the Georgia and SEC single-season records (with 149 thefts) and also shattered both the Lady Bulldog and league career steals marks.
Baker finished her career with 426 steals, an amazing 84 thefts more than UGA's two-decade old mark established by five-time Olympian Teresa Edwards and 54 better than the previous SEC mark.
Baker's 2005-06 steal tally ranked No. 11 in NCAA history, while her career total placed her at No. 9 on the NCAA's all-time leaders ledger.
Kendrick Ends Remarkable Run In Red And Black
Alexis Kendrick completed her career at Georgia with 132 games played and started. That broke the UGA record for career starts and placed her at No. 2 on the Lady Dogs' career leaders for GPs.
Three Lady Dogs Top 1,000
Alexis Kendrick, Tasha Humphrey and Cori Chambers became the 25th, 26th and 27th Lady Bulldogs to surpass the 1,000-point career scoring plateau.
Kendrick did so in the first half of Georgia's win over Iona on Dec. 6.
Humphrey collected her 1,000th point at Florida on Jan. 29 in just her 52nd collegiate outing (the second-fastest pace in UGA history).
Chambers, who broke the Georgia season record for three-pointers with 78 treys on the year, reached the millennium milestone at Arkansas on Feb. 23.
Lady Bulldog Honor Roll
All-America
Tasha Humphrey
Kodak, ESPN.com, WBB News Service, Full Court Press (2nd)
AP (3rd)
Sherill Baker
Full Court Press (2nd),
WBB News Service (3rd)
Kodak, AP (Honorable Mention)
National Defensive Player of the Year
Sherill Baker
WBB News Service
All-SEC
Tasha Humphrey
Coaches (1st), AP (1st)
Sherill Baker
Coaches (1st), AP (1st)
Cori Chambers
Coaches (2nd), AP (2nd)
All-SEC Tournament
Sherill Baker
All-NCAA Regional
Tasha Humphrey
SEC Academic Honor Roll
Megan Darrah
Ebony Felder
Rebecca Rowsey
SEC Good Works Team
Rebecca Rowsey
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