Georgia forward Merritt Hempe (13) jumps for the ball to start off the Lady Bulldogs’ game against the Auburn Tigers at Stegeman Coliseum on Thursday, Jan. 28, 2016, in Athens, Ga. (Photo by David Barnes)
[su_spacer size=”40″] The Lady Bulldogs have won two of their last three games this season, while Vanderbilt enters Sunday’s contest on a two-game win streak and has won four of its last five contests during the 2015-16 campaign.
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Game Information:
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Georgia (15-6, 3-5 SEC) vs. Vanderbilt (15-5, 4-3 SEC)
Sunday, Jan. 31, 2016 | Memorial Gymnasium | 3 p.m. ET/2 p.m. CT
TV: SEC Network + // Kevin Ingram (PxP) and Jessica Mooney Holman (Analyst)
Radio: Georgia Bulldog Radio Network by IMG (Jeff Dantzler, PBP)
[su_spacer size=”20″]CLICK HERE FOR LIVE STATS AT GEORGIADOGS.COM
[su_spacer size=”20″]Follow the team on Twitter at: @UGA_WBB
[su_spacer size=”40″]Game Notes
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Opening Tip — Five Things To Know
[su_spacer size=”40″] 1. Georgia looks for its second-straight win of the season and its third-straight victory in the series with Vanderbilt on Sunday. The Lady Bulldogs are searching for their first win at Vanderbilt’s Memorial Gymnasium since 2006.[su_spacer size=”20″] 2. The Lady Bulldogs enter Sunday’s game after downing Auburn, 63-30, on Thursday. The 30 points scored by Auburn represents the lowest amount of points given up to an SEC opponent in a single game in Georgia history.
[su_spacer size=”20″] 3. Georgia ranks in the top of the SEC and NCAA in several defensive categories entering Sunday’s game. The Lady Bulldogs rank first in the SEC (9th nationally) in scoring defense (51.9 ppg), first in the league (9th nationally) in field goal percentage defense (33.5 %) and first in both the SEC and nationally in 3-point field goal percentage defense, holding opponents to just 22.9 percent shooting from behind the arc.
[su_spacer size=”20″] 4. Georgia is led in scoring by senior guard Tiaria Griffin, who paces the team with her 14.1 ppg. Griffin is coming off a 17-point effort against Auburn on Thursday. The Monticello, Miss., native has scored in double figures 15 times and has led UGA in scoring nine times this season.
[su_spacer size=”20″] 5. Senior guard Shacobia Barbee is averaging a double-double in SEC play with her 12.1 ppg and 10.0 rebounds per contest against league opponents. Barbee leads the SEC in assist to turnover ratio, is fourth in rebounds per game (9.2), fourth in steals per game (2.2) and fourth in total assists (93).
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A Georgia Win Would
[su_spacer size=”40″] Be Georgia’s third win in the last four games.[su_spacer size=”40″] Be the Lady Bulldogs’ third-straight victory against Vanderbilt and their fifth win in the last six meetings between the two teams.
[su_spacer size=”40″] Improve Georgia’s record to 10-13 all-time against Vanderbilt in Nashville. Georgia has not won at Memorial Gymnasium since Feb. 19, 2006 — an 83-61 victory for the Lady Bulldogs.
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Series Information
[su_spacer size=”20″]Overall: Georgia leads, 34-26
[su_spacer size=”20″]In Athens: Georgia leads, 18-7
[su_spacer size=”20″]In Nashville: Vanderbilt leads, 13-9
[su_spacer size=”20″]Neutral Sites: Georgia leads, 7-6
[su_spacer size=”20″]Current Streak: Georgia, 2-0
[su_spacer size=”20″]Last Meeting: UGA won, 64-53 (1/18/15) in Athens
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Scouting Vanderbilt
[su_spacer size=”40″] Vanderbilt enters Sunday’s game on fire as of late with back-to-back victories against Alabama and at No. 12 Kentucky. The Commodores have won four of their last five games, with the only loss coming on the road at Tennessee, 58-49, on Jan. 21. Christa Reed and Rachel Bell pace Vanderbilt offensively with Reed’s 11.3 ppg and Bell’s 10.5 ppg. The Commodores score 65.7 points per game and shoot 46.7 percent from the field.[su_spacer size=”20″]
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Last Time Out
[su_spacer size=”40″] The Georgia Lady Bulldog basketball team used a suffocating defense in a 63-30 win against Auburn Thursday at Stegeman Coliseum.[su_spacer size=”40″] After being tied 15-15 through 10 minutes of play, Georgia won the final 30 minutes by a score of 48-15. It was Georgia’s widest margin of victory in a conference game since beating Ole Miss 87-52 on Feb. 23, 2012.
[su_spacer size=”40″] The Lady Dogs were led by Tiaria Griffin and Shacobia Barbee on the offensive end, as the seniors scored 17 and 16 points, respectively. Caliya Robinson nearly joined them in double figures with eight points of her own. Georgia held Auburn to just 27.7-percent shooting from the field in the contest.
[su_spacer size=”40″] “Let’s give Auburn some credit, they’re a really good team,” said head coach Joni Taylor. “I think our team did a really good job preparing for them and we stuck to the game plan. We were able to get out and run. We rebounded the ball, and that allows us to get out and push to create easy scoring opportunities.”
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Georgia Notebook
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Griffin Moving Up 3-Point Chart
[su_spacer size=”40″] UGA senior guard Tiaria Griffin has moved up to No. 4 on Georgia’s all-time career made 3-point field goals chart with 193 treys in her career at Georgia, which is the most by any current player in the SEC. In third place on Georgia’s career record chart is Khaalidah Miller (218 made 3-point baskets), who played for the Lady Bulldogs from 2010-14.[su_spacer size=”20″]
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Lady Bulldogs Use Record-Breaking Performance To Down Auburn
[su_spacer size=”40″] Georgia clamped down on the defensive end to hold Auburn to its lowest point output of the season and the lowest point total by any of UGA’s SEC opponents in school history. The Lady Bulldogs held the Tigers to just 15 points over the final three quarters and held AU scoreless for just over eight minutes in the third period.[su_spacer size=”40″] The record-breaking performance for Georgia is nothing new for the Lady Bulldogs this season. Earlier in the year, UGA held Georgia Southern to just 28 points — the lowest by any opponent in the NCAA era of Georgia Lady Bulldog basketball.
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UGA One Of Top Defenses Nationally
[su_spacer size=”40″] The Lady Bulldogs have held 20 of 21 opponents at 40 percent or lower shooting this season and have held six teams to their season lows in scoring. Georgia is holding teams to just 51.9 points per game this season. The Georgia school record for scoring defense is 53.9 ppg, which was set by the 2012-13 NCAA Elite Eight team.[su_spacer size=”20″]
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Butler An Academic All-America Nominee
[su_spacer size=”40″] Georgia senior guard Marjorie Butler has been nominated for the 2015-16 CoSIDA Academic All-America team for her efforts in the classroom. Butler, who has been accepted to medical school at the University of Virginia, Vanderbilt, Florida and UAB, among other schools, already has a degree in exercise science and will graduate with a second degree in biology this May.[su_spacer size=”20″]
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Strong Start One For The Records
[su_spacer size=”40″] The 12-1 start for Georgia head coach Joni Taylor ties for the third-best start by an SEC coach in his or her first season at a school since women’s basketball became an NCAA sport. Pokey Chatman (13-0, LSU in 2004-05) and Tom Collen (13-0, Arkansas in 2007-08) are the only two to have better starts through their first 13 games.[su_spacer size=”20″]
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A Trio Of Ranked Wins
[su_spacer size=”40″] Georgia has won three games over ranked opponents for the first time since the 2012-13 campaign. Two of those victories have come against SEC foes — No. 20 Florida and No. 10 Mississippi State. Both contests in SEC play were strong defensive efforts by the Lady Bulldogs, as Georgia held each team to its respective season low in scoring and a sub-40 shooting percentage.[su_spacer size=”20″]
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Protecting The Ball
[su_spacer size=”40″] The Lady Bulldogs have committed fewer turnovers than their opponents in 14 of 21 games this season and are fifth in the SEC in fewest turnovers committed, averaging just 15.0 per game. Georgia also averages 15.9 assists per game, ranking fourth in the SEC in assist-to-turnover ratio this season.[su_spacer size=”40″]
For more information on the Georgia Women’s Basketball team,
[su_spacer size=”20″]follow the team on:
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Twitter: @UGA_WBB
[su_spacer size=”20″]Instagram: @uga_wbb
[su_spacer size=”20″]Facebook: UGA Women’s Basketball
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MORE GAME NOTES:
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