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Lady Bulldog Game Notes

Georgia vs. Ole Miss

Thursday, January 15, 2015 at 7:00 pm ET

Tad Smith Coliseum (8,867) in Oxford, Miss.

Video: SEC Network +; Richard Cross, play-by-play; Armintie Herrington, analyst

Radio: Georgia Bulldog Radio Network (AM 960 The Ref in Athens & 103.7 FM from Gainesville); Jeff Dantzler, play-by-play

Starting 5

• UGA is 31-11 all-time against OM but just 9-7 in games played in Oxford

• Tiaria Griffin was named SEC Co-Player of the Week on Monday after averaging 16.0 ppg vs. Missouri and Auburn

• Sunday’s game was Andy Landers’ 1250th as a collegiate head coach

• UGA (12-0) was one of this season’s last six undefeated Division I wbb teams when it lost at Seton Hall on 12/28

• UGA’s 11/29 win at Tennessee Tech made Andy Landers just the seventh college hoops coach – men’s or women’s – with 850 wins at one D-I school

Keeping An Eye On…Entering Today’s Game:

Millennium point watch…

• Shacobia Barbee is 167 points from 1,000

• Erika Ford is 235 points from 1,000

Lady Bulldog Basketball is…

• 5 wins from the 900th victory in program history

Andy Landers is…

• 10 victories from his 950th win as a collegiate head coach

UGA faces Ole Miss In SEC Battle

The No. 18-ranked Georgia Lady Bulldogs travel to Ole Miss on Thursday evening for a matchup of teams sporting 3-1 SEC records.

Georgia improved to 15-2 overall with last Sunday’s victory at Auburn. Trailing 47-46 with 3:44 remaining, the Lady Bulldogs outscored the Tigers 11-5 the rest of the way en route to a 57-52 win.

Shacobia Barbee leads the Lady Bulldogs in scoring at 12.5 ppg, while Tiaria Griffin is contributing 12.1 ppg. Krista Donald is Georgia’s top rebounder at 7.3 rpg. 

Griffin has posted game-high scoring totals in each of Georgia’s last five outings and is averaging 15.3 ppg in four SEC dates. In stats for league games only, Griffin holds the unique distinction of currently leading the SEC in both field goal percentage (51.2) and 3-point FG percentage (50.0). 

All told, eight different Lady Bulldogs – Barbee, Marjorie Butler, Donald, Mackenzie Engram, Erika Ford, Griffin, Merritt Hempe and Pachis Roberts –have combined to score in double figures 45 times for the Lady Bulldogs.

Ole Miss upped its record to 13-4 overall with Sunday’s 77-63 win over Alabama.

Tia Faleru not only leads the Rebels but also the SEC in both scoring (16.5 ppg) and rebounding (10.7 rpg). In addition, she ranks No. 3 in field goal percentage (54.9), No. 3 in steals (2.5 spg) and No. 4 in blocks (1.6 bpg).

In SEC play, Erika Sisk (11.3 ppg) and A’Queen Sisk (10.5 ppg) join Faleru with additional double-digit scoring averages.

Series History versus Ole Miss

Georgia sports a solid 30-11 lead in its all-time series with Ole Miss; however, the Lady Bulldogs’ advantage in games played in Oxford is just 9-7.

Erika Ford’s 16 points led five Lady Bulldogs in double figures as Georgia defeated Ole Miss, 84-63, last Feb. 9 in Athens.

Georgia scored the game’s first eight points over the opening 2:39 and never trailed. The Rebels pulled within 21-18 before a Tiaria Griffin steal and layup opened an 11-0 run.

The Lady Bulldogs led 48-29 at the half and pushed that advantage to 62-36 with 14:36 remaining in the game.

Two seasons ago in Oxford, Andy Landers became just the fourth major college women’s basketball coach to record 900 career victories as his 13th-ranked Georgia Lady Bulldogs dispatched Ole Miss, 73-54, on Feb. 24 at Tad Smith Coliseum.

Jasmine Hassell led the way with game-high tallies of 23 points and 10 boards, her fourth double-double in five games. Shacobia Barbee and  Tiaria Griffin added 13 and 12 points, respectively, while Jasmine James had a season-high eight assists.

The Lady Bulldogs ended much of the drama early, racing to a 13-0 lead over the game’s opening 2:57.

Georgia led by 13 and halftime and opened the second stanza with a 12-0 surge that all but guaranteed the victory.

“I’m most happy that our basketball team is now 23-4,” Landers said. “As far as the 900th win, I’ve been blessed have a lot of great players…assistant coaches…support staff…fans…there are a lot of people of have played a large part in those victories. I’m thankful for all of them. They have all played a great part in our success through the years.”

Landers’ achievement was not recognized by most national news agencies because the NCAA counted the win in Oxford as the 818th of his career. From 1974-79, Landers garnered 82 wins at Roane State, a junior college in Harriman, Tenn. The NCAA only counts victories at four-year institutions in its career records.

“I get it,” Landers said. “I understand that I am probably the only person who will ever have this. It doesn’t upset me in any way. But I will say this…I am as proud of the 82 wins at Roane as I am of the victories at Georgia.”

Last  Time Out

Tiaria Griffin scored 16 points and Shacobia Barbee added a double-double of 15 points and 11 rebounds to lead No. 20 Georgia past Auburn, 57-52, last Sunday afternoon.

Griffin scored seven points in the final 3:16 as the Lady Bulldogs outscored the Tigers 11-5 down the stretch.

Auburn went up 47-46 on a Hasina Muhammad jumper with 3:44 remaining. Griffin answered with back-to-back 3-pointers to put Georgia up 52-47 just 1:23 later.

After a defensive stop, Marjorie Butler knocked down a pair of free throws to make it a three-possession game with 80 second left.

The Tigers cut the margin to 55-52 on a Brandy Montgomery 3-pointer with 34 seconds on the clock, but a Griffin free throw extended the margin back to two possessions. Montgomery missed additional shots from behind the arc with 10 and four seconds left.

“I thought defensively we stayed the course,” Andy Landers said. “We were very good changing from one to other, 2-3 to man. They ran some isolation and scored. Muhammad was terrific coming down the stretch, but we were pretty good defensively and then opportunistic on offense.”

Though out-rebounded 37-33, the Lady Bulldogs owned a 19-7 advantage on second-chance points.