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Georgia guard/forward Shacobia Barbee (20) goes for a loose ball during the Lady Bulldogs’ game against the Georgia Southern Eagles at Stegeman Coliseum on Tuesday, November 24, 2015 in Athens, Ga. (Photo by John Kelley)
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The University of Georgia Lady Bulldogs basketball team opens the Radisson Chatsworth Thanksgiving Classic on Friday with a matchup against BYU at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT inside The Matadome on the campus of California State University Northridge.
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The winner/loser of Friday’s contest will face the winner/loser of the CSUN vs. Penn State matchup on Saturday.
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Georgia and BYU face off for the first time in school history on Friday. The Lady Bulldogs are the designated visiting team and BYU is the home team in Friday’s matchup. This is each school’s first appearance in the Radisson Chatsworth Thanksgiving Classic, which is hosted by Cal State Northridge.
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The Lady Bulldogs enter Thanksgiving weekend on a two-game win streak. In its last outing, Georgia tied a Lady Bulldog record for fewest points allowed in a game, holding Georgia Southern to 28 in a 75-28 victory. That 28-point total matched the school record set against Savannah State during the 2008-09 season.
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Senior forward Merritt Hempe leads Georgia in scoring, averaging 16.3 points per game. She has recorded back-to-back double-doubles this season.
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The Lady Bulldogs have held each of their first four opponents to under 40 percent shooting and have committed fewer turnovers than each of their opponents. Georgia currently ranks second in the SEC in assist/turnover ratio (1.6) with 72 assists and 46 turnovers through four games.
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Senior guard Shacobia Barbee is averaging a double-double this season with 11.0 ppg and 10.8 rebounds per contest. She recorded the school’s third all-time triple-double in the opener against Stetson and is coming off a 12 pts, 12 rebs. and 7 assist performance vs. Georgia Southern.
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A Georgia Win Would …
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– Be the third-straight victory of the year for the Lady Bulldogs.
– Be Georgia’s first win against BYU. The two teams have never met before Friday’s game in California.
– Give the Lady Bulldogs their sixth all-time win against members of the West Coast Conference. Georgia is 5-2 all-time vs. the WCC.
– Improve Joni Taylor’s record to 4-1 as the Lady Bulldogs’ head coach.
– Improve Georgia’s non-conference record to 17-3 over the last two seasons.
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Series Information
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Friday’s game will be the first all-time meeting between the two teams.
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Scouting BYU
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– BYU returns three starters and nine letterwinners off of last season’s NCAA Tournament team that finished 23-10 and 12-6 in the WCC. Among the returning starters is Lexi Eaton Rydalch, who was the team’s leading scorer with 20.5 ppg a year ago. The Cougars have defeated Utah Valley State and Utah State and have lost road games at Oklahoma and Colorado State.
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Last Time Out
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– The Lady Bulldogs won their 50th-straight non-conference home game when they downed Georgia Southern, 75-28, on Tuesday night at Stegeman Coliseum. Senior forward Merritt Hempe recorded her second-straight double-double with her 20 points and 11 rebounds vs. the Eagles. Tuesday’s game also marked UGA debuts for newcomers Caliya Robinson and Shanea Armbrister. Robinson finished with seven points in 20 minutes, while Armbister finished with seven rebounds. The 28 points scored by Georgia Southern tied a Georgia record for fewest points allowed. The Lady Bulldogs held Savannah State to 28 points on Jan. 15, 2009.
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Georgia Notebook
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Lady Dogs Get Defensive
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– Through the first four games of the season teams are averaging just 53.8 points and are turning the ball over an average of 16.5 times per game against the Lady Bulldogs. In Georgia’s last outing, the Lady Bulldogs held Georgia Southern to 28 points, tying a school record in the NCAA era of women’s college basketball.
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Barbee Is Back
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– After missing the last 10 games of the 2014-15 season due to an injury, Georgia senior guard Shacobia Barbee has made the most of her return to the lineup. Barbee recorded the program’s third triple-double — 10 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists vs. Stetson — to become just the third Lady Bulldog all-time (Teresa Edwards and Tracy Henderson) to record a triple double. It was also just the 26th occurrence of a triple-double in SEC history.The preseason All-SEC second team selection is averaging 11.0 ppg to go along with 10.8 rebounds per contest.
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Hempe Finding Her Groove
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– Senior forward Merritt Hempe enters Thanksgiving week as the team’s leading scorer, averaging 16.3 points per game. Hempe, who missed six of the team’s final seven games a year ago due to an illness, has scored in double figures in three of four games this season and has recorded back-to-back double-doubles.
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Robinson And Armbrister Make Debuts
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– Newcomers Caliya Robinson and Shanea Armbrister made their Lady Bulldog debuts in the team’s last game against Georgia Southern. Robinson, who was recovering from a torn ACL she suffered in high school, and Armbrister, who was recovering from a torn meniscus, were each sidelined the first three games of the season due to injury. Robinson scored seven points, while Armbrister recorded seven rebounds in the win.
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Books And Basketball For Butler
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– Georgia senior point guard Marjorie Butler is making a name for herself both on and off the court. Butler, who entered college with over 50 hours of college credits, is currently going through medical school interviews and has already been accepted by several universities. The Knoxville, Tenn., native already has a degree in exercise science and will graduate with a second degree in biology.
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