WBB GAME NOTES: Georgia Hosts Oklahoma in Home Opener

Sunday, December 6

Athens, Ga.

Noon

University of Georgia

Oklahoma

WBB GAME NOTES: Georgia Hosts Oklahoma in Home Opener

December 04, 2020 | Women's Basketball

Georgia Lady Bulldogs (3-0) vs. Oklahoma Sooners (0-1)
Sunday, Dec. 6 | noon ET
Stegeman Coliseum (10,523 - capacity around 20% this season) | Athens, Ga.
Radio: Bulldog Sports Network (Jeff Dantzler) 960 AM The REF, WXKT 103.7 FM in Athens
TV: SEC Network (Tyler Denning (play-by-play)/Steffi Sorensen (analyst)
Video Stream: SECN+

JONI TAYLOR - HEAD COACH

SIXTH SEASON // RECORD: 101-58 (.633)

CAREER HIGHLIGHTS

2018 Werner Ladder Naismith National Coach of the Year Semifinalist
Two-time Atlanta Tip-Off Club Georgia College Coach of the Year
2016 Spalding Maggie Dixon National Rookie Coach of the Year
Three WNBA Draft picks
Led Georgia to a 26-7 record in 2017-18, marking the team's most wins in a single season since 2006-07
Georgia hosted the NCAA first and second rounds in Athens for first time since 2003 during the 2017-18 campaign
Five All-SEC honorees and two SEC Scholar-Athletes of the Year
Created the award-winning Beyond Basketball group

Women's Basketball Fan Attendance Policy

Due to social distancing protocols, Stegeman Coliseum will be operating at a reduced capacity of approximately 20% with ticket opportunities in blocks of two or four seats only.
Fans will be required to wear face masks at all times while in Stegeman Coliseum.
No fans are allowed on the court level of Stegeman.
All seating is reserved for the 2020-2021 women's basketball season.
Tickets are mobile for the 2020-21 season. Tickets for Sunday's game ARE still available. Visit www.georgiadogs.com/tickets to purchase a mobile ticket.

Opening Tip Storylines

Georgia hosts Oklahoma this Sunday at noon ET in the SEC/Big-12 Challenge. The game will air nationally on SEC Network.
Jeff Dantzler will call the contest on the Georgia Bulldogs Sports Network, which is available in Athens on 960 AM The REF and WXKT 103.7 FM.
The Lady Bulldogs are 3-0 for the first time since the 2017-18 season, when the team went 26-7 on its way to a second-place finish in the SEC standings.
Georgia opened this year with three-straight road games for the first time since the 2002-03 season. This marks the first occasion in program history Georgia has won three-straight true road contests to begin a season.
Thursday's win against East Carolina gave Georgia its 1,000th all-time victory. The Lady Bulldogs are one of just two SEC programs and 16 nationwide to accomplish that feat.
It has been a week of milestones for the Lady Bulldogs. During last Sunday's win against Tech, senior guard Gabby Connally recorded her 1,000th career point, while Joni Taylor picked up her 100th win as the head coach at Georgia. Both Connally and Taylor will be presented with a game ball before Sunday's contest.
Georgia and Oklahoma are meeting for the first time since 2009 -- a contest the Lady Bulldogs won 62-51 to open the 2009-10 season. Georgia owns a 4-1 all-time record against the Sooners.
Senior center Jenna Staiti leads Georgia with 13.7 points and 6.3 rebounds per game. She has scored in double figures in 11 of the last 12 games dating back to last season.
Georgia's bench has outscored its opponents by 60 points (93-33) through the first three games. The Lady Bulldogs have also shot over 40 percent and held their opponents below 40 percent in all three games.
Sophomore forward Javyn Nicholson has scored in double figures twice this season after totaling two double-figure scoring games all of last year.

Series History

Overall: Georgia leads, 4-1
In Athens: Georgia leads, 2-0
In Norman: Tied, 1-1
Neutral Sites: Georgia leads, 1-0
Current Streak: Two teams have split the last two meetings
Last Meeting: Georgia won 62-51 in Athens (11/15/09)
Largest Margin of Victory: 24 points, Georgia won 94-70 in Madison, Wisc. (11/22/2000)
Largest Defeat: 8 points, Oklahoma defeated Georgia, 65-57 (1/27/08)
Full Series History

Staiti Moves Into Top-10 for Blocks

With 126 blocks , Jenna Staiti has moved past Anne Marie Armstrong for 10th place on Georgia's career blocked shots chart. Staiti tied a career high with seven swats against Georgia Tech this past Sunday and finished just three blocks shy of recording the fourth triple-double in Lady Bulldog history. Tawana McDonald (1998-2002) owns the Georgia record with 297 blocks in her career.

Coombs In Double Figures

Redshirt-junior guard Mikayla Coombs is one of the many bright spots for Georgia this season. The UConn transfer, who sat out last season due to NCAA transfer rules, Had a career-best 10 point effort at Tech. It marks the first time in her career she has scored in double figures.

Barker Makes Big Plays

With 2:19 left in the overtime period against Georgia Tech, freshman Sarah Ashlee Barker broke open a tie game with a made jump shot to put her team up 65-63. The Lady Bulldogs did not give up the lead the rest of the way en route to a 75-69 win. Barker played valuable minutes in her first two collegiate games, logging 19 minutes against Mercer and 20 at Georgia Tech.

Morrison Sets New Career High

Senior guard Que Morrison scored a career-high 20 points in the win against Georgia Tech . The effort bested her previous career high of 19 points versus Wofford in her first-ever game as a Lady Bulldog back in 2017.

Best Shooting Effort Since 2009

The Lady Bulldogs finished the Mercer contest hitting 32-of-53 shots (60.4 percent), marking the team's best single-game shooting percentage since March 5, 2009 against Kentucky (63.4 percent) -- a span of 11 seasons.

The Lady Bulldogs knocked in 8-of-10 (80 percent) field goals in the fourth quarter against the Bears. Eight of the 11 Lady Bulldogs who played hit 50 percent or better from the field.

Georgia Returns Experienced Team

The last time Georgia had this much experience on its roster was back during the 2017-18 season when the team went 26-7 on its way to a second-place finish in the SEC standings. In 2018-19, Georgia had the youngest team in the SEC, while last year it had to replace its top two scorers.

The Lady Bulldogs now return over 90 percent of their scoring and 88 percent of their rebounding, including four starters and 10 total letterwinners.

A Closer Look at Staiti's Last Nine Games

Jenna Staiti had one of the best late season stretches of any player in the SEC last season, averaging 19.4 points and 9.4 rebounds per game. She also posted three double-doubles and five 20-plus point efforts. Staiti's game-by-game breakdown of the last nine games of 2019-20 is available on page 5 of the game notes.

Staiti Steady at the Stripe

Jenna Staiti filled up the stat sheet with double-figure scoring efforts and double-doubles in her last nine games of the 2019-20 season. What might have gone unnoticed was Staiti's performance at the free-throw line. Staiti finished the year hitting 89 percent from the stripe -- good for the second-best single season average in Georgia history.

Chapman Best in the State

Two-sport star Chloe Chapman was named the Atlanta Sports Awards State of Georgia College Athlete of the Year this past summer. Chapman, who also plays soccer at UGA, is just the 11th Bulldog student-athlete to earn the honor. She received over 50,000 votes during the seven-day voting period back in July.

Chapman placed on the 2019 SEC All-Freshman Team in soccer before earning a spot in the lineup on the basketball floor.

Two-Sport Star in Rare Company

Chapman is one of only six Lady Bulldogs to play two sports while at UGA. Below is a list of these elite athletes.

All-Time Lady Bulldog Two-Sport Athletes

Tina Price -- 1975-78 -- Women's basketball/Tennis
Donna Noonan – 1975-77 – Women's basketball/Golf
Beth Timmons – 2000 – Women's basketball/Swimming
Maria Taylor – 2007 -- Women's basketball/Volleyball
Stephanie Paul – 2019-20 – Women's basketball/Track (discus)
Chloe Chapman – present – Women's basketball/Soccer

Building Off Strong Finish

Georgia finished the 2019-20 season on a high note, winning four of its final six regular season games and five of eight overall. Among the big wins during the final stretch was a 73-56 road victory at LSU -- a game in which the Lady Bulldogs led the entire way. Georgia also knocked off Alabama and Florida twice during the stretch-run of the season.

Georgia Seniors Earn Degrees

Each of Georgia's four seniors -- Gabby Connally, Maya Caldwell, Que Morrison and Jenna Staiti -- will wear the SEC graduate patch this season after earning their degrees. The four Lady Bulldogs are all pursuing master's degrees, with Connally focusing on public administration, Cadwell in non-profit management and leadership, and Morrison and Staiti in sport pedagogy.

Georgia Led League in Honor Roll Selections

The Georgia Lady Bulldogs led all Southeastern Conference basketball teams (women or men) with nine players on the league's Academic Honor Roll this past winter.

Each winter, student-athletes from across the conference are recognized for having a 3.0 GPA or above for either the preceding academic year or a cumulative grade point average of 3.0 or higher.

The following Lady Bulldogs reached the above criteria. Malury Bates (Human Development, Roanake, Va.), Maya Caldwell (Communication Studies, Charlotte, N.C.), Gabby Connally (Criminal Justice, San Antonio, Texas), Ari Henderson (Civil Engineering, Stone Mountain, Ga.), Caitlin Hose (Financial Planning, Hazel Green, Ala.), Kaila Hubbard (Psychology, Jonesboro, Ga.), Que Morrison (Communication Studies, Riverdale, Ga.), Stephanie Paul (Sport Management, Naples, Fla.) , Jenna Staiti (Human Development, Cumming, Ga.).

One of Peach State's Best Joins 2021 Signing Class

Jillian Hollingshead, a 6-foot-5 forward from Powder Springs, Ga., added to an already impressive 2021 signing class for the Lady Bulldogs. She was the fourth signee of Georgia's class, joining fellow top-40 prospect Reigan Richardson (Huntersville, N.C.) as well as Alina Sendar (Amsterdam, Netherlands) and Kimora 'Kimmie' Jenkins (Long Island, N.Y.).

Hollingshead was ranked as the No. 5 forward in the nation according to espnW and was also ranked No. 22 in the ESPN HoopGurlz Terrific 25 for the 2021 class.

FOLLOW THE LADY BULLDOGS

For more information on the Georgia Lady Bulldogs, follow the team on Twitter (@UGA_WBB), Instagram (@uga_wbb) and Facebook (Facebook.com/UGAWomensBasketball).