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Lady Bulldog NCAA Notes: Georgia vs. Marist
March 16, 2012
UGA vs. MC Game Notes (2.5 MB) Date: Sunday, March 18 Tipoff: 12:05 p.m. ET Location: Tallahassee, Fla. Arena: Donald L. Tucker Center (12,100) TV: * ESPN 2; Justin Kutcher - play-by-play, Nell Fortner - analyst Radio: *Georgia Bulldog Radio Network (103.7 FM in Gainesville) Jeff Dantzler - play-by-play Series: *UGA leads 2-0, including a 75-60 win in the first round of the 2006 NCAA Tournament in Trenton, N.J. NCAA: *UGA is making its 29th NCAA Tournament appearance, which ranks No. 2 nationally * UGA is 17-3 in "first-round" - round of 64 and round of 48 - games in NCAA Tournament competition Georgia opens NCAA Tourney For the 29th time in the 31 editions of the NCAA Women's Basketball Championship, the Georgia Lady Bulldogs saw their name appear when the bracket was released on March 12. The Lady Bulldogs' 29 NCAA bids rank second nationally. And UGA has made the most of those opportunities. Georgia also is among the nation's top-5 programs in NCAA Tournament games played (80), NCAA wins (52), "Sweet 16s" (19) and Final Fours (5). Top-10 listings in each of those categories can be found on Page 5. Fourth-seeded Georgia will open NCAA action on Sunday, March 18 when the Lady Bulldogs face 13th-seeded Marist in Tallahassee, Fla. at noon ET on ESPN2. Fifth-seeded St. Bonaventure will face 12th-seeded Florida Gulf Coast in the other first-round matchup at the Donald L. Tucker Center. Sunday's winners will meeting on Tuesday at 7 p.m. for the right to advance to the Raleigh Regional. The Lady Bulldogs are 22-8 overall and finished 11-5 and third in the Southeastern Conference this season. Georgia is currently ranked No. 17 and No. 21 ESPN/USA Today and Associated Press polls, respectively. Marist also sports a rich NCAA Tournament history. The Red Foxes have earned bids to eight of the last nine NCAA Tournaments (missing out only in 2005). Make it 18 straight for UGA Georgia has now received bids to each of the last 18 NCAA Tournaments, beginning with the Lady Bulldogs' 1994-95 Final Four season. That represents the fourth longest active streak in the nation. During that span, UGA has has compiled a 34-17 (.667) record in NCAA play and advanced to: • 12 "Sweet 16s" (1995-96-97-99-00-03-04-05-06-07-10-11); • Six "Elite Eights" (1995-96-97-99-00-04); • Three Final Fours (1995-96-99); • The 1996 NCAA title game; Series history vs. Marist Georgia is 2-0 all-time against Marist, winning contests during the 2004-05 and 2005-06 seasons. The Lady Bulldogs defeated the Red Foxes, 79-62, in the initial matchup in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., on Dec. 21, 2004. Georgia used an 11-2 run to push a five-point lead to 14 with 3:57 left. Tasha Humphrey led the Lady Bulldogs with a double-double of 26 points and 10 rebounds, while Elmsford, N.Y., native Cori Chambers - playing in front of a host of family and friends - added 20 points on 8-of-9 FG shooting. The following season, Georgia beat Marist, 75-60, in an NCAA Tournament first-round game contested in Trenton, N.J. Wade Trophy finalists Sherill Baker and Humphrey led the Lady Bulldogs in that outing. After six lead changes in the opening minutes, an Alexis Kendrick three put Georgia up for good at 19-17. Humphrey scored a game-high 23 points, while Sherill Baker chipped in 20 and nine steals. In the process, Baker broke both Georgia's NCAA Tournament single-game and the SEC's career steals records. Those Lady Bulldogs went on to defeat Hartford in the second round before falling to Connecticut, 77-75, in the the "Sweet 16." Quoting Coach Landers... On making the NCAA Tournament field... "Just making the Tournament is an accomplishment. It's always a goal when you play at Georgia to play in the NCAA Tournament. Making it in is great and having a four-seed is even better. At this point, we're just excited and anxious and ready to get going with it." On the Lady Bulldogs' season... "This is a good basketball team. We have some good wins and we don't have any bad losses. It's a team that's been very consistent and at the end of the season won six out of seven. We played well late, we were consistent all year long, we played a good schedule, we finished third in the SEC and we played well despite a lot of injuries. I thought we were solid." On the facing Marist... "In years past, Marist has been a very, very strong, well-coached and disciplined basketball team. We played them up there several years ago and had to play very, very well to win. We played them in the NCAAs the next season and again it was a very hard-fought basketball game. One thing I can tell you without ever looking at a tape is that Marist is a basketball team that won't beat themselves and you have to be very good when you play Marist." Balanced attack I: The "O" The Lady Bulldogs' lineup sports four players averaging double digits in scoring, both overall and in Southeastern Conference action. Overall, Jasmine Hassell paces Georgia at 13.2 points per game, while Khaalidah Miller contributes 12.1, Anne Marie Armstrong adds 11.6 and Jasmine James chips in 10.5. In SEC action, Armstrong led the way at 13.1 ppg, followed by Hassell at 12.3, Miller at 11.1 and Meredith Mitchell at 10.1. "We're a balanced basketball team," Andy Landers said. "I thought we would be going, and I think we will be all year. I think on any given night, any one of about seven or eight players could step up and be very, very big for us." Balanced attack II: The "O" Seven different players have paced Georgia offensively this season. In fact, six Lady Bulldogs did so in the first six games of the 2011-12 campaign. In succession, Anne Marie Armstrong, Jasmine Hassell, Jasmine James, Meredith Mitchell, James/Khaalidah Miller and Erika Ford/Hassell led the Lady Bulldogs during their first half-dozen outings. Krista Donald joined that ledger of Lady Bulldog leaders when she tied Jasmine James for top scoring honors at Alabama on Feb. 5. Balanced attack III: The "O" The aforementioned seven Lady Bulldogs have produced a combined 98 double-digit outings in 2011-12. Georgia has produced three or more double-figure individual tallies in 24 of 30 games to date. On 11 occasions, four or more players popped for 10 or more. Five Lady Bulldogs scored in double-digits in outings against No. 6 Kentucky and at Alabama. Balanced attack IV: The "O" Georgia's offensive balance during 2011-12 extends past the Lady Bulldogs' individually to UGA's team point production by period. Of the Lady Bulldogs' 2052 total points, 1025 were tallied in the first halves and 1027 were notched in the second stanza. In SEC play, Georgia's 1034 points included 519 and 515 in the first and second halves, respectively. Balanced attack V: The "D" Georgia sports four players with 50-plus steals, a first for the Lady Bulldogs since 1982-83. Meredith Mitchell's career-high six steals against Ole Miss made her the fourth player to top the 50-steal mark. Entering the NCAA Tournament, Anne Marie Armstrong owns a team-best 69 steals on the year, Jasmine James has 59 steals (and the team's best per-game average of 2.6 spg), Khaalidah Miller has 56 steals and Mitchell sports 54. The last quartet to have 50-plus steals for UGA was Teresa Edwards (70), Janet Harris (61), Cynthia Collins (53) and Wanda Holloway (52) in 1982-83 - the first of Georgia's five Final Four teams. This marks the third time four Lady Bulldogs secured 50 or more thefts. The 1980-81 team also had four players with more than 50 takeaways. Georgia hitting its "magic number" The Lady Bulldogs have furthered one of the greatest statistical indicators in any sport eight times this season. Georgia has scored 80 or more points on eight occasions and improved to 433-7 when hitting that mark during Andy Landers' 33 seasons in Athens. That converts to a 98.409090909 winning percentage. Practice time hard to come by Andy Landers says he can't remember anything like this in his 33 seasons at the University of Georgia. Injuries, illnesses and even dental procedures have forced Lady Bulldogs to miss a combined 164 individual days of practice. As a point of reference, Landers estimates a season usually includes approximately 25-30 missed practices. That tally doesn't even include losing 6-4 Marisela Rodriguez before the year due to a pre-existing knee injury. An extremely abridged recap of each Lady Bulldog's individual setbacks this season goes like this... • Anne Marie Armstrong - illness and left ankle • Brittney Crews - illness • Krista Donald - left PCL and dental • Erika Ford - stress fracture in right leg and dental • Jasmine James - right MCL and family funeral • Ebony Jones - left PCL and right ankle • Meredith Mitchell - eye and right ankle Only four players are yet to miss a workout due to a health condition - Jasmine Hassell, Khaalidah Miller, Tamika Willis and Danielle Bennett. "We're calling those four our `birthday party ponies,'" Landers quipped. "They're healthy as horses so we ride them hard for two hours every day." Board battle indicator goes awry Georgia's SEC Tournament loss to South Carolina marked the first time during the 2011-12 season that the Lady Bulldogs outrebounded their opposition and lost. Entering the matchup with the Gamecocks, Georgia was a perfect 16-0 when winning the battle on the boards...and 6-7 when the opponents outrebounded the Lady Bulldogs. Georgia secured a +5 rebounding margin against South Carolina, collecting 38 boards to USC's 33. Quartet honored by SEC Four Lady Bulldogs earned post-season SEC accolades. In balloting of league coaches, Anne Marie Armstrong was tabbed first-team All-SEC and named to the league's All-Defensive team, Jasmine Hassell was voted second-team All-SEC and Erika Ford was included on the All-Freshman unit. The AP named Armstrong and Hassell second-team and Khaalidah Miller honorable mention All-SEC. "I'm very pleased we had players recognized," Andy Landers said. "I'm even more pleased with our basketball team and what it has been able to accomplish. Any time you have a successful team, a byproduct is that individuals are going to be recognized for what they have done. We have been a very balanced basketball team all year. I'm glad that coaches can't vote for their own players. I would have struggled with that decision because all of our players have had outstanding years and contributed greatly to our team's success." Trio earns SEC weekly honors Jasmine James, Anne Marie Armstrong and Meredith Mitchell were SEC Players of the Week this season. Jasmine James was selected on Nov. 21 after averaging 13.3 points, 7.0 rebounds, 5.3 assists and 2.7 steals in wins over Georgia Southern, College of Charleston and No. 23 Southern Cal. Armstrong was tabbed on Feb. 13 after she scored a career-high 23 points by connecting on 11-of-16 field goals and logged a career-high 40 minutes of playing time against Vanderbilt. Mitchell was chosen on Feb. 27 after averaging 15.0 points, 5.0 assists and 4.0 steals in victories over Ole Miss and LSU in her final two games at Stegeman Coliseum. Her 20 points vs. the Rebels were her most ever in SEC play. FOW honors roll in too Both of the Lady Bulldogs' first-year players secured SEC Freshman of the Week recognition this season. Krista Donald was named as such on Feb. 6, a day after she posted game-high tallies of 18 points and nine rebounds in a victory at Alabama. Erika Ford won the accolade on Jan. 2 after averaging 9.5 points and 6.0 rebounds in a pair of wins over Furman and Arkansas. Nine Lady Bulldogs have captured SEC FOW honors 20 times since its inception in 2006, including Donald, Ford, Jasmine Hassell, Jasmine James and Khaalidah Miller. Armstrong leads SEC stats leaders In stats for Southeastern Conference games only, Anne Marie Armstrong led the league with nine top-10 listings among the 13 categories kept as outlined in the next column. Armstrong was No. 3 in steals; No. 6 in rebounding; No. 6 in defensive rebounds; No. 6 in assists; No. 6 in minutes played; No. 7 in scoring; No. 7 in blocks; No. 8 in FG pct.; and No. 9 in assists-to-TOs. SEC Only Top-10 Stat leaders
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