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Lady Bulldogs Host Jaguars Friday Night
Dec. 9, 2004
Complete Notes in PDF Format - including stats, bios, and more Lady Bulldogs hope to snap losing skid at two gamesDuring Andy Landers’ 25-plus seasons at Georgia, only four times have the Lady Bulldogs lost three consecutive games. The 2004-05 edition of the Lady Dogs will try to prevent joining that dubious list this evening when they host Augusta State. One of those four three-game losing skids occured just last season, when Georgia lost successive games to No. 20 Auburn, Florida and Ole Miss. Prior to that, the most recent trio of setbacks was a dozen years earlier when the Lady Dogs dropped decisions to No. 7 Stanford, Wisconsin-Green Day and Ohio State to open the 1991-92 season. The other three-game losing streaks came during the latter portions of the 1988-89 and 1979-80 campaigns. Keeping an eye on...Entering the Arizona State game: Andy Landers is... •Three wins shy of his 700th victory as a collegiate head coach Alexis Kendrick is... •48 assists from No. 8 Coco Miller on UGA’s career leaders list Sherill Baker is... •One steal from No. 8 Bernadette Mattox’s on UGA’s career leaders list
Peach State supremacy slipping?Augusta State represents the third and final in-state opponent on the Lady Bulldogs’ 2004-05 regular-season schedule. Until recently, victories over other Peach State programs were virtually a given. Between 1982-2002 Georgia enjoyed a 54-game winning streak over competition from within state borders. That all changed during the 2002-03 campaign when Georgia Tech upset the Lady Dogs in the Russell Athletic Shootout. Georgia’s most previous setback to a state school prior to that Dec. 27, 2002 loss to the Yellow Jackets was a 79-77 OT setback to Georgia State on Jan. 6, 1982. With last Friday’s loss to the Yellow Jackets, Georgia is now just 4-2 against in-state competition in its last six games. Georgia is currently 109-82 (.571) all-time versus other schools within the Peach State. Before Landers’ arrival, Georgia, now No. 5 in the all-time AP women’s basketball poll, probably wasn’t the fifth-best women’s hoops program in the state. The Lady Dogs were a woeful 27-67 (.287) versus in-state opposition at that point. In Landers’ first season, UGA was 9-8 against other state schools, a mark which improved to 12-3 during 1980-81 before the 54-game streak began in 1981-82.
Maybe they were baby steps forwardWhile obviously disappointed with the Lady Bulldogs’ 10-point loss to Arizona State on Tuesday, Andy Landers did see signs of improvement from last Friday’s setback at Georgia Tech. “Hopefully, this is another step in the right direction of us becoming a better backetball team,” Landers said. “We got outplayed, but we played hard. I just don’t think that we’re that good right now. We don’t have the right habits. This game, we played hard and got beat. The last game, we didn’t play hard and got beat. I hope the players are starting to comprehend what it takes to win at this level. We don’t practice at this level, and I don’t think the kids understand that. We don’t put ourselves under duress in practice. “I don’t think we’re representing ourselves like a Georgia Basketball team right now,” Landers continued. “I think we take a lot of things for granted. I don’t think they understand what the “G” on the uniform has represented for the last 26 years, getting up and down the floor with passion. It’s just not acceptable."
Previous matchup was historic nightGeorgia is 1-0 all-time against Augusta State, last defeating the Panthers on Jan. 28, 1984 when the Division II school was then known as Augusta College and competed at the NAIA level. The Lady Bulldogs secured a 107-53 decision that night. Tucked into the first-half play-by-play of that contest is a significant nuggett of Georgia Basketball history. With 34 seconds left in the first half, junior Janet Harris grabbed an offensive rebound and converted on a putback to record the 1,688th and 1,699th points of her collegiate career. That made her the University of Georgia’s all-time leading scorer in basketball, surpassing Human Highlight Film Dominque Wilkins, who scored 1,688 points during his three seasons with the Bulldogs from 1979-82.
Baker out of lineup for first time in a whileAgainst Arizona State, Sherill Baker was out of the starting lineup for the first time since Jan. 12, 2003. That snapped a streak of 58 straight starts in games played for Baker. She did miss the Lady Dogs’ “Sweet 16” matchup with Duke in the 2003 NCAA Tourney after separating her right shoulder in an NCAA second-round win over Rutgers.
Hardrick out of action due to sprained ankleJanese Hardrick, who suffered a sprained left ankle early in the Georgia Southern game on Nov. 30, is listed as “probable” to participate in the Augusta State contest. Hardrick, a gballmag.com Freshman All-American and unanimous All-SEC Freshman pick by league coaches last season, did not play during losses to Georgia Tech and Arizona State, which represented the first “DNPs” of her career with the Lady Bulldogs.
Landers approaching 700Andy Landers enters tonight’s game just three victories shy of the 700th win of his collegiate coaching career. In addition to his 615-192 record in 25-plus seasons with the Lady Bulldogs, Landers compiled an 82-21 mark in four seasons at Roane State College in Harriman, Tenn., between 1975-79. Landers led Roane to two national top-10 finishes during his four seasons there. All told in 29 seasons as a collegiate head coach, Landers teams have finished the year ranked among the nation’s top-10 teams 17 times – 58.6 percent of those teams. Landers will become the fifth major college women’s basketball coach to reach the 700-win plateau. Rutgers’ C. Vivian Stringer secured her 700th victory with the Scarlet Knights’ win at Princeton earlier this week on Wednesday.
Offensive futility like never beforeAndy Landers has coached 806 games in his 25-plus seasons as the head coach of the Georgia Lady Bulldogs. Last Friday’s 55-49 loss to Georgia Tech marked just the 11th time during that span that the Lady Dogs have failed to score 50 points. Georgia won the first 24 meetings in the series by an average of 26.3 points per game before Tech secured a 65-61win two years ago. Now, the Jackets have won two of the last three matchups. Prior to last Friday’s loss to the Yellow Jackets, the fewest points Georgia had ever scored against its arch-rival was 60 – that during a decisive 60-35 victory way back on Feb. 23, 1976.
Darrah becomes 56th freshman startFreshman Megan Darrah started for the Lady Bulldogs at last Friday’s loss to Georgia Tech, the first time in her collegiate career she has gotten the nod. Darrah became the 56th freshman to do so during Andy Landers’ 26 seasons in Athens. Classmate Tasha Humphrey became the 55th freshman to start under Landers when she opened the season in the lineup versus Furman. She also became the 20th freshman to start their collegiate debut for Landers with the Lady Dogs. Humphrey did not start at Tech due to a sprained ankle. Six of the Lady Dogs’ seven returning letterwinners – Sherill Baker, Cori Chambers, Janese Hardrick, Alexis Kendrick, Jessica Pierce and Rebecca Rowsey – also started at least one game as a freshman.
Back in action quicklyThe Lady Bulldogs pulled back into Athens from their trip to Honolulu just over 24 hours – 24 hours and 29 minutes to be exact – prior to tipoff of their matchup with Georgia Southern on Nov. 30. It would be tough to call the Lady Dogs’ third-place performance in Hawaii anything but a disappointment. Georgia traveled to the 50th state ranked No. 3 after a victory over then-second ranked Texas and watched the Longhorns rebound to defeat top-ranked Tennessee on Thanksgiving. After a decisive win over Idaho, the Lady Dogs went flat in a 64-63 setback to TCU. Georgia then bounced back to grind out an 87-68 victory over Santa Clara, and the Lady Frogs also solidified their upset with a win over No. 13 Michigan State in the championship game.
Baker, Kendrick join UGA’s top-10sSherill Baker and Alexis Kendrick have been mainstays for the Lady Dogs since they arrived in Athens. Both own prominent places among the Lady Dogs’ statistical leaders for freshmen and sophomores, and this season they already have placed themselves alongside greatest names in UGA’s career annals. Baker, who combined for 193 steals en route to breaking Georgia’s freshman and sophomore records for thefts, added 11 more to that total versus Furman and Texas to move past Lady Hardmon and Wanda Holloway into the No. 10 spot on the Lady Bulldogs’ career leaders ledger. Baker then passed Cynthia Collins against TCU, and she needs just one more theft to tie Bernadette Mattox at No. 8. Kendrick, who dished out 313 assists during her first two seasons at Georgia, handed out eight more in the season-opener against Furman to move past La’Keshia Frett and Lou Sims into the No. 10 position among the Lady Bulldogs’ career leaders for dishes. She then passed Lisa O’Connor to move into the No. 9 spot versus Arizona State.
A Washington High reunionGeorgia senior Jessica Pierce and Georgia Southern freshman Shawnda Atwood were teammates for one season at Booker T. Washington High School, a powerhouse program in Pensacola, Fla. That year, 2000-01, Pierce averaged 27.7 points per game in leading the Lady Kats to the Final Four of the 5A State Tournament. Atwood was a freshman on that squad and dished out 72 assists, with many of those likely going to Pierce. Pierce was the Florida 4A Player of the Year as a junior (Atwood’s eighth grade season) after leading Washington to a perfect 31-0 record and the Florida 4A State championship. The Lady Kats were the only prep basketball team in Florida – girls or boys – to complete the 1999-2000 season with an unblemished record. Pierce became the fifth Lady Kat to earn Florida Player of the Year accolades.
81 or more is still the Lady Bulldogs’ magic scoreGeorgia’s 98- and 87-points outings against Furman and Santa Clara, respectively, added another couple of notches to perhaps the greatest indicator in all of college athletics – other than the most obvious of outscoring the opponent. The Lady Dogs improved their astronomical record under Andy Landers when the Lady Bulldogs have topped that mark. Semantically, that means 81 points or more, but “more than 80” rolls off the tongue better. The Lady Dogs are now 353-5 when they’ve scored more than 80 points under Landers – an almost unfathomable winning percentage of 98.603351955.
Humphrey christens career with elite companyTasha Humphrey was named the SEC Player of the Week on Monday, Nov. 22, a day after leading the No. 5-ranked Lady Bulldogs to a 78-64 victory over No. 2 Texas. Humphrey became only the second freshman ever to secure SEC Player of the Week accolades during the first week of their collegiate career. Tennessee’s Chamique Holdsclaw did so at the beginning of the 1995-96 campaign. “The best part about Tasha’s performance is that her teammates are so excited about it,” Andy Landers said. “I think they’re more excited about it than she is.” Humphrey scored 27 points against the Longhorns, including 24 in the second half. She connected on 10-of-15 field goals and 6-of-8 free throws and also grabbed a game-high eight rebounds. Two days earlier, Humphrey poured in 25 points against Furman in the season opener. She reached double-figures in the scoring column just 7:34 into the contest. For the week, Humphrey connected on 70.0 percent of her field goals. Humphrey also became just the fifth Georgia freshman to earn SEC Player of the Week honors since the league instituted the honor in 1987, joining La’Keshia Frett, Coco Miller, Kelly Miller and current teammate Sherill Baker.
Scoring at a torrid paceLast season, the Lady Bulldogs played 70 halves of basketball without topping the 50-point plateau even once. In its first four halves of hoops during the 2004-05 campaign, Georgia surpassed the half-century mark twice. The Lady Dogs opened the campaign with a 52-point outburst against Furman, equaling UGA’s best offensive output since scoring 54 points in the first half of a 105-62 victory over Florida on Jan. 12, 2003. Georgia struggled woefully early in the Texas game, scoring just 13 points during the first 13:55 of the first half. The Lady Dogs, who were trailing 28-13 at that point, then closed the period on a 14-4 run to pull within five at the break. Georgia opened the second stanza on a 16-5 surge over the first 5:44 en route to a 51-point performance.
Chambers keys surge against Longhorns, ends with career-highSophomore Cori Chambers helped Georgia charge back into the Texas game, scoring eight points during the final 6:04 of the first half to help the Lady Bulldogs trim a 15-point deficit by 10 points. Chambers finished the night with 20 points, topping her previous career-high output of 19 versus Liberty in the first round of last season’s NCAA Tournament. After connecting on just 1-of-7 three-pointers against Furman, Chambers rebounded to hit 4-of-5 shots from behind the arc versus the Longhorns.
Humphrey stellar in debutIt didn’t take 6-3 freshman Tasha Humphrey long to show why she was perhaps the most decorated high school player in Georgia history. At the 19:54 mark of the first half, the 6-3 “post” player scored her first collegiate points by nailing a three-pointer from just left of the top of the key. Thirty-nine seconds later, she scored down low on a nifty reverse lay-up. It took all of 7:34 for Humphrey to reach double-digits and she finished with 25 points on 11-of-15 shooting from the floor. “Tasha was awful solid,” Andy Landers said. “I just thought she made some very good plays, smart plays, and I think she’s only going to get better.” Humphrey’s scoring output was the third-best ever by a Lady Dog freshman in their collegiate debut as outlined above to the left. Janet Harris poured in 39 points against Valdosta State in the first game of her four-time All-America career. Perhaps just as impressive was Kelly Miller’s initial game in Stegeman when, in addition to scoring 24 points, she grabbed nine rebounds, handed out nine assists and collected three steals versus Boise State.
Happy B-day to one of the new kidsReicina Russell, who transferred to Georgia from Penn State this fall, celebrated her 20th birthday on Monday, Nov. 22. Russell is able to practice with but not play for the Lady Bulldogs this season per NCAA rules regarding transfers. She will be a sophomore eligibility wise next fall. Russell represents the first of a minimum of nine birthdays the Lady Bulldogs will celebrate during the 2004-05 campaign. We’d be more than happy to have freshman Sara Kate Greene (who’s birthday is April 3) become a 10th in-season b-day.
Early signing period nets stellar trio of prospectsThe Lady Bulldogs signed three premier prep players – all rated among the nation’s top-10 prospects at their positions – to letters of intent to play collegiately for Georgia on Wednesday, Nov. 10, the first day of the week-long early signing period. Erica Brown of Fort Lauderdale, Fla.; Angel Robinson of Marietta, Ga.; and Danielle Taylor of Savannah, Ga., inked papers to attend UGA. “All three of these players understand what winning is all about,” Andy Landers said. “They are from extremely successful high school programs and have been well coached.” Brown, a 5-9, point guard from Dillard High School, is the reigning Florida 5A State Player of the Year and was named MVP of the 2004 5A State Tournament after leading the Panthers to a state title. She is ranked as the nation’s No. 7 prospect by the All-Star Girls Report and No. 16 by Blue Star Recruiting Service. “For a player of her caliber, her talent level, Erica does a great job at getting everyone involved,” said Dillard coach Marcia Pinder. “Erica wants to get everyone a piece of the pie. A lot of teams try to focus on Erica, but because she works so hard to get her teammates involved that’s very hard to do. She’s a very exciting player who has a lot of enthusiasm. I think everyone at Georgia is really going to enjoy watching her.” Brown averaged 11.1 points, 6.9 rebounds and 7.0 assists for Dillard, which finished 28-3. In the state championship game, Brown scored 18 points and grabbed 16 rebounds. Robinson, a 6-5, center from Marietta High School, is ranked as the nation's No. 7 and No. 11 prospect by Blue Star Recruiting and the All-Star Girls Report, respectively. Last season, she averaged 21.7 points, 16 rebounds, 2.5 assists and six blocks per game for the Blue Devils. “Angel has a great understanding of the game,” said Marietta coach Ken Sprague, Jr. “She has a very, very high basketball IQ. She does so many things well. Angel is 6-5 but she doesn’t have to hang around the basket. She’s a strong post player but she’s also a very good ball handler. As a matter of fact, she’s our back-up point guard. She not only knows what she needs to do to be successful on the court, she knows what everyone else needs to do as well.” Last summer, Robinson was a member of the U.S. Junior National Team which won the gold medal at the COPABA Qualifying Tournament for the 2005 World Junior National Championships. Taylor, a 6-1, wing from Beach High School, averaged 18.7 points, 8.0 rebounds and 2.0 steals per game while helping the Bulldogs to a 25-5 record, the Region 3-AAAAA title and the quarterfinals of the state tournament. “Danielle is outstanding and very versatile basketball player,” said Beach coach Ronald Booker. “She can play inside. She can play outside. Danielle can play all five positions on the floor. She’s an excellent ball-handler. More than her basketball ability, Danielle is only one of five or six kids that have been selected as team captain during my 26 years at Beach. I think that speaks toward the quality of the individual.”
Taylor is ranked as the No. 41 overall prospect and the No. 8 wing in the nation by the All-Star Girls Report.
Lady Dogs picked among eliteAs has been commonplace over most of the last quarter-century, pre-season prognosticators have high expectations of the Lady Dogs. Most folks believe big things are in sore for UGA this winter as outlined in the rankings of the various publications and polls which follow.
  
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