WBB Game Notes: Georgia Hosts No. 1 South Carolina

TEAM COMPARISON

GEORGIA LADY BULLDOGS Ranking: #17 (AP) #14 (Coaches) Head Coach: Joni Taylor Career Record: 136-71 (7th season) Record at Georgia (7th season): Same

SOUTH CAROLINA GAMECOCKS Ranking: #1 (AP) #1 (Coaches) Head Coach: Dawn Staley Career Record: 525-184 (22nd Season) Record at SC (14th season): 353-104

Opening Tip

Georgia is back home to host No. 1 South Carolina on Super Bowl Sunday at Stegeman Coliseum. Tip time is set for noon ET on ESPN2.

Georgia and South Carolina last met in the 2021 SEC Tournament Championship game, with the Gamecocks winning that contest 67-62. Neither team led by more than nine points in that matchup. A Que Morrison basket cut South Carolina’s lead to 65-62 with 17 seconds remaining, but Georgia could not close the gap the rest of the way.

Sunday’s contest is billed as Georgia’s ‘Divine 9 Game.’ The Lady Bulldogs have invited members and alumni of the nine historically black fraternities and sororities to attend the game, where they will be honored during the first timeout of the first quarter.

On the backs of freshmen Reigan Richardson, Tineya Hylton and Jillian Hollingshead, Georgia erased a 20-point deficit Thursday night against LSU. Richardson finished with a career-high 17 points and hit 3-for-4 from 3-point range. Hylton finished with nine points, including a pair of second-half 3-pointers.

Graduate center Jenna Staiti was named one of 10 finalists for the 2022 Lisa Leslie Award on Friday. Staiti is also on the Naismith National Player of the Year Midseason Team.

Georgia is looking for its first win against South Carolina since 2013 – a 42-40 victory in Athens. The Lady Bulldogs have lost 14-straight games against the Gamecocks.

A win on Sunday would mark the first time since the 1995-96 season that Georgia has defeated two top-5 teams in the regular season. The Lady Bulldogs downed No. 2 NC State earlier this year in Raleigh. Georgia finished national runner-up in 1996 behind another Final Four appearance by head coach Andy Landers’ team.

Win the Boards

Georgia boasts a 12-1 record when outrebounding its opponent, with the lone loss coming at Kentucky. In 17 wins, Georgia has outrebounded the opponent by a +8.9 margin, while the Lady Bulldogs are -5 in six losses.

Paint Touches

The Lady Bulldogs have outscored their counterparts by an 814-610 ledger (a +204 margin) in the paint this season. Georgia averages nine more points per game in the paint than the opposing team.

Dawgs are SEC’s Most unselfish

Georgia paces the SEC and ranks No. 17 nationally with 17.1 assists per game. The team has totaled 393 assists on 646 made field goals this season — an average of 60 percent.

Staiti, Morrison Add to National Honors

Que Morrison and Jenna Staiti continue to put their names among the best players in the country. Staiti has been tabbed to the Naismith National Player of the Year Midseason Team, while Morrison was named to the Naismith National Defensive Player of the Year Watch List. Both players are considered among the best at their respective positions. Staiti is on the Lisa Leslie Award Watch List, while Morrison is on the Dawn Staley Award List.

Steady Staiti Continues streak

Jenna Staiti has now scored in double figures in 48 of her last 58 games with 19 double-doubles during that span. She is one of only six players in program history to score over 1,000 career points, bring down over 500 rebounds and block over 200 shots.

One of the top All-Around Players? No (Que) Stion About it

Que Morrison — the 2021 SEC Co-Defensive Player of the Year and two-time SEC All-Defensive Team selection — is literally doing it all. If you look at an SEC stat sheet, you will find Morrison’s name in nearly every statistical category.

Over the course of the season, Morrison has hit big shot after big shot to carry her team. She has scored in double figures 18 times, has totaled 20 or more points on four occasions, recorded three or more steals eight times and three or more assists in every single game.

Richardson Shines Against Tigers

Freshman guard and former McDonald’s All-American Reigan Richardson almost single-handedly led Georgia back from a 20-point deficit against LSU. She scored a career-high 17 points, with 15 of those coming in the second half, before Georgia fell just short against the Tigers.

Coombs Swipes the Irish

Senior guard Mikayla Coombs nearly set the school record with eight steals in the win against Notre Dame — a total that was just two shy of the school mark. Coombs recorded six steals in the first quarter alone to lead her team in the early going.

Barker’s Bomb Shocks NC State

Sarah Ashlee Barker nailed a 25-foot heave at the buzzer to send the game against NC State into overtime. Barker finished with a career-best four 3-point field goals in the win, including back-to-back three’s late in the game to stop a NC State rally.

Down Goes No. 2

Georgia’s win at then No. 2-ranked NC State marked the program’s first true road against a team ranked No. 1 or No. 2 in program history. The victory ended the Wolfpack’s 10-game win streak.

Overtime Success

Georgia improved to an impressive 9-2 overall in overtime games under head coach Joni Taylor. In fact, Georgia has won four-straight and nine of its last 10 OT contests.

Many Contributors

Georgia’s bench has outscored its opponents by a 545-234 margin, an average of 13 points per game, this season. Against LSU on Thursday, Georgia’s bench outscored the Tigers’ non-starters, 34-4.

Bulldog Block Party

The Lady Bulldogs set a new school record with 18 blocks in the win against Alabama State on Nov. 21. That total broke a 34-year old record from 1987, when Georgia had 16 against Mercer. The Lady Bulldogs’ 18 swats are tied for the second-most in a game in SEC history.

UGA Seniors Earn Degrees

For the second-straight year, each of Georgia’s seniors have already earned their college degrees. Malury Bates (sociology), Mikayla Coombs (sport management), Que Morrison (communication studies) and Jenna Staiti (human development and family science) have all graduated from the University of Georgia.

A Healthy Dose of Que

After suffering a string of injuries in her career, Morrison finally experienced a full healthy season for the Lady Bulldogs.

Here is a look back at some of the adversity Morrison has overcome.

The defensive stopper placed on the SEC All-Freshman Team after drawing 32 starts on Georgia’s NCAA tournament team. Then, in her sophomore campaign, Morrison missed the first eight games due to a torn meniscus in her left knee. In 2019-20, she had an injury to her foot before the year began. She then suffered a torn labrum in her right shoulder to end her junior campaign midway through SEC play.

Coombs Takes on Leadership Roles

Mikayla Coombs — a native of Buford, Ga. — was selected by her peers to serve as the vice chair of the SEC Women’s Basketball Leadership Council. As one of four elected officers, she will participate in various meetings throughout the year to provide feedback to Athletics Directors, Senior Woman Administrators and Faculty Athletics Representatives.

This news came after she was chosen as the only student-athlete representative on the NCAA competition committee. Coombs graduated with a degree in sport management from the University of Georgia and is currently pursuing a master’s in the same program. She was named a UGA Presidential Scholar in 2020, has placed on the Athletic Director’s Honor Roll three times and made the Dean’s List in 2021.

Chapman Sticks with Basketball

Junior guard Chloe Chapman played two seasons with the Georgia soccer team, but after spending two years as a dual-sport athlete, she will now focus on just basketball. The Mitchellville, Md., native was a consensus top-40 prospect and was rated as the No. 8 overall point guard in the nation coming out of high school.

Georgia Freshmen Already Making History

Lady Bulldog freshmen Reigan Richardson and Jillian Hollingshead were both named McDonald’s All-Americans, marking the first time in Georgia history the program has signed two McDonald’s All-Americans in one class. Hollingshead and Richardson are the 11th and 12th McDonald’s All-Americans to sign with the Lady Bulldogs and are the first to commit right out high school since Ronika Ransford in 2010. Current Lady Bulldog Mikayla Coombs was a McDonald’s All-American in 2017.

A Storied History

Georgia is one of just two SEC programs (Tennessee) and one of just 16 teams nationwide to reach the 1,000 win total. The Lady Bulldogs accomplished the feat last season on the road at East Carolina, marking the latest impressive accomplishment for the storied program.

The Lady Bulldogs are one of only three teams, joining Wisconsin-Green Bay and Tennessee, to have a winning record every year since 1980 and have been to 34 of 39 NCAA tournaments.