For the 32nd time in school history, the  Lady Bulldog basketball team is set to open play in the NCAA Tournament, with this season’s first and second rounds set to take place in South Bend, Indiana. Number 8 seed Georgia vs Indiana, who is a number 9 seed, will be on Saturday at 9 PM ET in front of a national television audience on ESPN2.
 
 
The winner of the Lady Bulldogs vs. Indiana matchup will meet the winner of the contest between No. 1 seed Notre Dame and 16th-seeded North Carolina A&T on Monday.
 
 
Fans who are unable to make the trek to South Bend can watch the game on ESPN2 or via the WatchESPN App. Georgia fans can also listen to the action on the Georgia Bulldog Radio Network by IMG with the ‘Voice of the Lady Bulldogs’ Jeff Dantzler calling the game on WRFC AM 960 The Ref and WXKT 103.7 FM.
 
 
Follow The Lady Bulldogs At The NCAA Tournament:
Georgia NCAA Postseason Media Guide // Georgia Tournament Central Page  // Twitter/Instagram: @UGA_WBB
 
 
Ticket Information:
For ticket information, visit Notre Dame’s official athletic website at at UND.com or call the Notre Dame Athletic Ticket Office at 574-631-7356. All-session tickets are $32 for adults, $17 for children. Single-session tickets for the first round are $15 for adults, $10 for children. For the second round, single-session tickets are $20 for adults and $12 for children.
 
 
Game Information:
 
NCAA Lexington Regional – First and Second Rounds 

No. 8 seed Georgia (21-9, 9-7 SEC) vs. No. 9 seed Indiana (20-11, 12-6 Big Ten)

NCAA First Round | Purcell Pavilion at the Joyce Center | South Bend, Indiana | Saturday, March 19 | 9 p.m. ET

TV: ESPN2 // Dave Pasch (Play-by-Play) & Debbie Antonelli (Analyst)

Radio: Georgia Bulldog Radio Network by IMG (Jeff Dantzler, PBP)

Live Stats: GeorgiaDogs.com
 
 
Opening Tip

» Georgia returns to the NCAA Tournament for the 32nd time in school history — the second most NCAA Tourney appearances for any school in women’s college basketball. The Lady Bulldogs, who saw their streak of 20-straight NCAA appearances snapped last season, return to the tournament under first-year head coach Joni Taylor.

» The Lady Bulldogs turned around a 2-5 start in SEC play to win seven of their last nine regular season games, including three crucial road victories and a trio of wins against ranked opponents in their final nine games of the season.

» Georgia, which was picked ninth by league coaches in the SEC’s preseason poll, finished in sixth place and just one game out of fourth in the league standings.

» First-year head coach Joni Taylor became one of just 12 SEC coaches all-time to win 20 or more games in his or her first season with their respective programs. Taylor, the 2015-16 Whack Hyder Georgia Coach of the Year, is making her seventh appearance in the NCAA Tournament as either a coach or player. Taylor has been to four NCAA Tourneys as an assistant coach at Georgia and Louisiana Tech and two as a player at Alabama under legendary head coach Rick Moody.

» Georgia is 3-0 all-time vs. Indiana, including a 2-0 mark against the Hoosiers in the NCAA Tournament. Ironically, Georgia and Indiana met in the 1983 NCAA Tourney in South Bend and then met again in Athens during the 1995 NCAA Tournament. In each of those two seasons, Georgia advanced all the way to the Final Four.
 
 
A Georgia Win Would … 

»  Be the Lady Bulldogs’ 56th all-time NCAA Tournament victory. Georgia’s 55 NCAA Tourney victories rank fifth-most among women’s college programs.

»  Improve Georgia’s record to 19-5 all-time in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. A Lady Bulldog victory would push UGA to the second round for the first time since 2012-13, when they made the Elite Eight.

»  Be UGA’s second win against Indiana all-time in the NCAA Tournament in South Bend. The two teams met in 1983 in South Bend.
 
 
Series Information vs. Indiana

Overall: Georgia leads, 3-0

In Athens: Georgia leads, 2-0 (includes 1995 NCAA Tournament)

In Bloomington:  Never Met

Neutral Sites: Georgia leads, 1-0 (met in the 1983 NCAA Tournament in South Bend)

Current Streak: Georgia has won three-straight games

Last Meeting: Georgia won, 84-51 (11/21/10) in Athens
 
 
Scouting Indiana

» Indiana is making its fifth appearance in the NCAA Tournament (1983, 1994, 1995, 2002, 2016) and the program’s first since 2002. The Hoosiers received an at-large bid into the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1995 when IU was a No. 14 seed that season. IU’s fourth place regular season finish in the Big Ten standings was Indiana’s highest conference placing since tying for third place in 1997-98. Teri Moren was named Big Ten Coach of the Year for the 2015-16 season, becoming just the second coach in program history to earn the award (Maryalyce Jeremiah, 1983). Tyra Buss was named First Team All-Big Ten by the conference coaches and media. She is the first Indiana player to earn First Team accolades since 2006 (Cyndi Valentin).
 
 
Georgia Notebook
 
Lady Dogs Back In The Big Dance

» Georgia missed the 2014-15 NCAA Tournament a season ago, breaking a string of 20-straight NCAA appearances (going all the way back to 1994). The Lady Bulldogs are back in the NCAA Tournament for the 32nd time in school history, building on Georgia’s great tradition. Below is a list of where Georgia ranks in several NCAA Tournament categories:

» 32 All-Time Appearances — 2nd most in NCAA history (behind Tennessee’s 35)

» 55 NCAA Tournament Wins — 5th most in NCAA history

» 20 Sweet 16s — 4th most behind Tennessee, UConn and Stanford
 
 
Five Top-25 Wins

» Georgia won five games over ranked opponents during the regular season for the first time since 2006-07. Four of those victories came against SEC foes, while one win came against then-No. 21 Seton Hall, who has a 23-7 record and finished third in the Big East. UGA also has a victory against BYU, who won the West Coast Conference regular season title, has a No. 16 RPI and boasts a 25-5 overall record.
 
 
Georgia Finished Strong … 7 Wins In Last 10 Games

» The Lady Bulldogs have won seven of their last 10 games with their only losses coming on the road at No. 2 South Carolina and at Tennessee and in a SEC Tournament overtime defeat to Vanderbilt. Georgia won five-straight games from Jan. 28 through Feb. 14, marking the team’s longest SEC win streak since the 2010-11 season. Of their seven wins over the current 10-game span, three have come on the road against SEC opponents.
 
 
Lady Bulldogs Are Road Warriors In 2015-16

» Georgia has played exceptionally well on the road this season, picking up six victories away from home, including four against conference opponents. The Lady Bulldogs recorded a pair of firsts on the road this season — downing Vanderbilt in Nashville for the first time since 2006 and defeating LSU in Baton Rouge for the first time since 2001.
 
 
Tight Matchup At No. 2 South Carolina

» Georgia came very close to pulling off an upset and becoming the first SEC team to defeat No. 2 South Carolina this season. The Lady Bulldogs battled hard against the Gamecocks, getting within five points — 50-45 — with just 2:29 remaining in the game, before eventually falling by a score of 61-51 to the SEC regular season champions. The 61 points scored by South Carolina represented the Gamecocks’ second-lowest SEC scoring effort this season.
 
 
Robinson A Three-Time SEC Freshman Of The Week, All-Freshman Team Pick

» Georgia freshman forward Caliya Robinson earned Freshman of the Week honors three times overall this season as she is now third on the team in scoring  (7.9 ppg) and second in rebounding (5.3 rpg) in conference play.

Robinson played exceptionally well in Georgia’s SEC Tournament game vs. Vanderbilt, scoring a team-high 14 points to go along with a career-high 12 rebounds. The Mareitta, Ga., native is third in the SEC in blocked shots and has recorded four double-doubles this season.
 
 
Tiaria Griffin Lands On All-SEC Team, Earns SEC Player of the Week Honor

» Georgia senior guard Tiaria Griffin has been on fire as of late, averaging 17.0 ppg over the last five games. Griffin most recently tallied a career high of 28 points against then-No. 22 Florida, hitting six 3-pointers in a row and scoring 22 points in the final 20 minutes to lead the Lady Dogs to their third-straight victory against the Gators. For her efforts, Griffin earned SEC Player of the Week honors, which marked the second time in her career she has garnered the weekly award.

Griffin was also named to the All-SEC Team for the first time in her career, earning second-team honors. The Monticello, Miss., native ranks third all-time at Georgia with 218 made 3-pointers.
 
 
Lady Bulldogs Setting Defensive Records

» Georgia currently ranks near the top of the SEC in all three major defensive categories — scoring defense, field-goal percentage defense and 3-point field goal percentage defense.

Georgia is holding teams to just 53.8 points per game this season. If that average holds, it would break a school record of 53.9 points per game allowed, which was set back in the 2012-13 season.  The Lady Bulldogs broke the school record for both points allowed by an opponent (28 vs. Georgia Southern on Nov. 24) and points allowed by an SEC opponent (30 vs. Auburn onJan. 28) in a single game.

The Lady Bulldogs have held 27 of 30 opponents at 40 percent or lower shooting this season and have held six teams — Georgia Southern, Kennesaw State, Wright State, Mississippi State, Auburn and Missouri — to their season lows in scoring.
 
 
Butler Named SEC Scholar-Athlete Of The Year 

» Georgia starting point guard and aspiring orthopedic surgeon Marjorie Butler has been named to the CoSIDA District 4 Academic All-America Team and became Georgia’s first-ever women’s basketball Scholar-Athlete of the Year.

Butler, who has started each of Georgia’s 30 games this season and is third in the SEC in assist-to-turnover ratio, will graduate with her second degree from the University of Georgia this coming May. The Knoxville, Tennessee native, who already has a degree in exercise science, currently sports a 3.81 GPA in biology.

She has already been accepted to some of the top medical schools in the nation, including the University of Virginia, Vanderbilt University, University of Florida, UAB, Meharry (Tenn.) College and East Tennessee State University.
 
 
Hempe Named To SEC Community Service Team

» Senior forward Merritt Hempe has been named to the 2016 SEC Community Service Team. The Fredericksburg, Va., native participates in numerous community service efforts, including Special Olympics Homeruns for Hometown Rivals baseball game, Toys for Tots, writing Holiday cards for deployed soldiers, helping provide safe routes to school by partnering with Barrow Elementary, providing toiletries collection for the homeless, visiting Stroud Elementary throughout the year to encourage and mentor children, is an Alzheimer’s Walk Volunteer and Ath-Half Volunteer, and volunteers as an AAU coach and operations staff member.
 
 

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