#10/12 Georgia Lady Bulldogs (21-6, 10-5 SEC) vs. #22/23 Oregon Ducks (14-8, 10-7 Pac-12)
Wednesday, March 24 | 3 p.m. ET/2 p.m. CT | NCAA Second Round | Alamo Region | Alamodome | San Antonio
TV: ESPN2 (Kevin Fitzgerald and Christy Thomaskutty)
Radio: Georgia Bulldog Sports Network (Jeff Dantzler)
WXKT 103.7 FM and 960 AM The Ref (also available on the Georgia Bulldogs’ App)
Game Day Storylines
• Georgia is set to face the Oregon Ducks this Wednesday in the second round of the NCAA tournament. Tipoff is set for 2 p.m. CT on ESPN2.
• This is the first meeting between these two programs since 1996. The Lady Bulldogs own a 2-0 lead in the all-time series, with both wins coming at neutral sites. These teams have never met in the NCAA tournament prior to Wednesday’s game.
• The Lady Bulldogs are looking for their first NCAA Sweet 16 appearance since 2013 and their 21st overall.
• Georgia improved to 9-0 against non-conference opponents this season with a 67-53 victory against Drexel in the first round of the NCAA tournament.
• Senior center Jenna Staiti scored 19 second-half points and hit seven of her first shots in the final 20 minutes to lead Georgia to a win against Drexel.
• Georgia’s bench outscored the Dragons’ bench 38-10 on Monday. Guards Chloe Chapman and Caitlin Hose played big minutes. Chapman scored a season-high seven points, while Hose knocked in a pair of 3-pointers.
• Senior guard Que Morrison finished two assists shy of a triple-double with 11 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists against Drexel. Morrison has scored in double figures in 12-straight games.
• Georgia owns a 3-1 record in the month of March. The Lady Bulldogs advanced to the SEC tournament championship game for the first time since 2004 following wins against No. 17 Kentucky and No. 2 Texas A&M.
• A group of four college graduates has led the Lady Bulldogs. Georgia’s top four scorers are all seniors who have earned their college degrees and are currently pursuing master’s degrees at UGA.
• Head coach Joni Taylor’s team once against exceeded expectations. This year’s squad was picked ninth in the SEC preseason poll and finished fourth in the final standings.
• Taylor was named the 2021 SEC Coach of the Year and is finalist for the Werner Ladder Naismith National Coach of the Year honor. A year after finishing with a 17-14 record, Georgia enters the tournament with a 20-6 overall mark.
• Georgia was the top defensive team in the SEC this season. The Lady Bulldogs were the only squad to rank in the top-5 of the conference in every defensive category during the regular season, including scoring defense (third; 60.9 ppg), field-goal percentage defense (third; .376), 3-point field-goal percentage (second; .285), blocked shots (second; 6.3 per game), steals (fifth; 8.5 per game) and rebounding defense (fifth; 35.2 per game).
NCAA Tournament History
» Georgia is one of only eight schools to advance to at least five Final Fours, doing so in 1983,1985, 1995, 1996 and 1999.
» The Lady Bulldogs have earned bids to 34 of 39 NCAA Tournaments. That ties Stanford for second-most appearances.
» Georgia has played in 88 NCAA tournament games, a total that ranks sixth among all Division I women’s basketball programs.
» Overall, Georgia has advanced to 20 Sweet 16s, 11 Elite Eights
Scouting Oregon
• The Ducks have been ranked in 76-straight AP polls under the leadership of Kelly Graves. Oregon finished fourth in the Pac-12 standings behind top-25 programs Stanford, Arizona and UCLA. The team is led by a trio of double-figure scorers in Nyara Sabally, Erin Boley and T-Hina Paopao. The Ducks led the Pac-12 and ranked 10th in the nation in assist-to-turnover ratio with a 1.35 mark.
Georgia Season Notebook
Connally Back Home in San Antonio
Georgia senior guard Gabby Connally returns to her hometown of San Antonio. She was a star at Brandeis High School, where she led her team in scoring all four years of her prep career. In 2017, she was named the San Antonio Express Co-Player of the Year.
Georgia In Top-10
The Lady Bulldogs enter the NCAA tournament ranked No. 10 nationally in the Associated Press Top-25. It is Georgia’s highest ranking coming into the tournament since the 2000-01 campaign, when the Lady Bulldogs were No. 4 heading into postseason play.
Georgia ended the tournament ranked No. 6 nationally in 2004 and was ranked No. 10 after an Elite Eight run in 2013.
Defensive Player of the Year Heats Up Offensively
Que Morrison — the 2021 SEC Co-Defensive Player of the Year — has made a name for herself on the defensive side of the floor. This season, she has stepped up her game offensively, scoring in double figures in 12-straight matchups entering the NCAA tournament. Morrison had not scored in double digits in more than three-straight contests before her senior campaign.
Experienced Seniors Ready for NCAA Tourney
Georgia seniors Maya Caldwell, Gabby Connally, Que Morrison and Jenna Staiti have combined to start over 300 games in their college careers. They have all led Georgia this season while pursuing master’s degrees at UGA.
This is their second trip to the NCAA tournament. Staiti — who sat out the 2017-18 season due to NCAA transfer rules — will be making her first appearance in the Big Dance as a Lady Bulldog.
Caldwell Moves to 4 and Scores More
Just before Georgia’s regular season finale at Florida on Feb. 28, Taylor and her staff moved senior guard Maya Caldwell to the four spot when the team goes to its four-guard lineup. Caldwell has thrived, scoring in double figures in three-straight games in the best stretch of her career.
Caldwell scored a career-high 27 points against Florida, 20 versus Kentucky in the SEC quarterfinals and 19 against Texas A&M in the SEC semifinals.
Dogs Have Options
Georgia has one of the deepest rosters in the SEC. The Lady Bulldogs have played 10 or more players in 22 of 27 games entering the tournament. The Lady Bulldogs have used 11 or more players in a game on 14 occasions.
Joni Taylor A Finalist For National Coach of the Year
Joni Taylor is also one of four finalists for the Werner Ladder Naismith National Coach of the Year Award. She joins Stanford’s Tara VanDerveer, Texas A&M’s Gary Blair and NC State’s Wes Moore. Taylor is seeking to become Georgia’s first National Coach of the Year Award winner since Andy Landers won the honor in 2000. The legendary Landers earned the award four times (1986, 1987, 1996 and 2000).
Taylor Earns SEC Coach of the Year Honor
Georgia head coach Joni Taylor — who led one of the largest single-season turnarounds in school history — was named the 2021 Southeastern Conference Coach of the Year. She has led her team to an 20-6 record, which includes wins against top-25 teams Tennessee (twice), Arkansas, Texas A&M and Kentucky.
Exceeding Expectations
Georgia was picked ninth in this year’s SEC preseason coaches poll and ultimately finished fourth in the standings. Exceeding expectations is nothing new for Joni Taylor’s teams. In five of her six seasons as head coach, her squads have finished ahead of their preseason rankings.
Georgia’s SEC Standings Under Joni Taylor
Season Preseason SEC Finish
2015-16 9th 6th
2016-17 12th 8th
2017-18 8th 2nd (tied)
2018-19 4th 7th
2019-20 10th 9th
2020-21 9th 4th
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