WBB Game Notes: Georgia Back Home to Host Ole Miss

Sunday, January 17

Athens, Ga.

3:00 PM

University of Georgia

Ole Miss

January 16, 2021 | Women's Basketball

Game Notes

Georgia Lady Bulldogs (11-1, 3-1 SEC) vs. Ole Miss Rebels (7-3, 1-3 SEC)
Sunday, Jan. 17, 2021 | 3 p.m. 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 (Paul Sunderland and Andraya Carter)
Video Stream: SEC Network +
Audio Stream: georgiadogs.com

JONI TAYLOR - HEAD COACH

SIXTH SEASON // RECORD: 109-59 (.646)

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

No.	Name	PPG	RPG
Georgia Lady Bulldogs Most Recent Starters
2	Gabby Connally	10.7	2.2
G; 5-6; Sr.; San Antonio, Texas
23	Que Morrison	10.2	5.1
G; 5-7; Sr.; Riverdale, Ga.
11	Maya Caldwell	8.5	2.8
G; 5-11; Sr.; Charlotte, N.C.
20	Jordan Isaacs	4.2	2.9
F; 6-0; So.; Alpharetta, Ga.
14	Jenna Staiti	14.1	7.6
C; 6-4; R-Sr.; Cumming, Ga.

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 this game are still available. Visit www.georgiadogs.com/tickets to purchase a mobile ticket.

Opening Tip Storylines

Georgia welcomes Ole Miss to Stegeman Coliseum this Sunday at 3 p.m. on the SEC Network.
The Lady Bulldogs are 11-1 overall this season and 3-1 in SEC play. It's the team's best start since 2017-18, when Georgia finished the year 26-7 with a second-place finish in the league standings.
Georgia overcame a 17-point deficit to defeat Tennessee Thursday night. It was Georgia's largest comeback in a game since erasing a 17-point lead to beat Tennessee 66-62 on Jan. 13, 2019.
The Lady Bulldogs pace the SEC in scoring defense, holding teams to 56.7 points per game. Ole Miss is right behind Georgia in that category as teams average just 57.1 points against the Rebels.
Georgia has won four-straight meetings against Ole Miss and leads the all-time series 36-13. The Lady Bulldogs are 19-1 against the Rebels in Athens, with the only loss coming in a 66-65 defeat back in 2010.
Former Lady Bulldog Donnetta Johnson, who played just one season at Georgia, averages 13.8 ppg for Ole Miss. She is one of two transfers who lead the Rebels. Former Maryland player Shakira Austin paces their team with 18.4 ppg.
Georgia's depth was once again on display Thursday night against Tennessee. Mikayla Coombs, Maori Davenport and Malury Bates came off the bench and helped lead Georgia to the win. Coombs played the full 20 minutes in the second half, Davenport scored six points in 19 minutes and Bates made several key defensive stops down the stretch to seal the victory.
Senior guards Que Morrison and Gabby Connally caught fire in the second half against Tennessee. Each knocked in a trio of 3-pointers and combined for 27 points in the final 20 minutes.

Series Breakdown

Overall: Georgia leads, 36-13
In Athens: Georgia leads, 19-1
In Oxford: Georgia leads, 11-9
Neutral Sites: Georgia leads, 6-3
Current Streak: Georgia has won four-straight meetings
Last Meeting: Georgia won 58-51 (1/2/20) in Oxford
Largest Margin of Victory: 42 points, Georgia won 96-54 (1/16/03) in Oxford
Largest Defeat: 29 points, Ole Miss won 88-59 (2/1/92) in Oxford
Full Series History

Georgia Guards Heat Up in Last Two Games

Seniors Que Morrison and Gabby Connally have combined to hit 10 pointers and have totaled 49 points in Georgia's last two wins against Florida and Tennessee. Redshirt junior guard Mikayla Coombs has also played a pivotal role with her 9.5 ppg, 12 assists and five steals in two games this week.

Options at the Post

Georgia has relied on a deep rotation of post players this season. Against Florida, Javyn Nicholson came off the bench and scored eight points in the first half after Jenna Staiti got into foul trouble. It was Maori Davenport and Malury Bates who led the Georgia frontcourt against Tennessee as the two combined to play 33 minutes in the final two quarters.

Winning on the Road

The Lady Bulldogs are a perfect 5-0 on the road this season, including wins in its first three games of the year — the first time in school history Georgia has accomplished that feat. Georgia's win at Tennessee was its first in Knoxville since 1996.

Defense Travels

Georgia's mantra for several years has been 'Defense Travels.' That has once again been the case this season. In addition to leading the SEC in scoring defense, Georgia has held six of 12 opponents at 30 percent or lower shooting from the field. The Lady Bulldogs rank in the top-5 of the SEC in steals (10.2 per game), field-goal percentage defense (35.8 percent), and turnovers forced (20.6 per game).

Not Just Defense … Georgia Sees Offensive Improvement

The Lady Bulldogs are a much improved team on the offensive end compared to last season. Georgia is averaging 76.6 points per game in 2020 after scoring just 63.2 points per game in 2019-20. The team has scored over 80 points four times through the first 12 games. Last season, the Lady Bulldogs scored 80 or more points twice in 31 contests.

Block Party for the Bulldogs

The Lady Bulldogs are second in the SEC and fourth nationally with 72 total blocks. Senior center Jenna Staiti leads all conference players and is fifth in the country with her 33 swats (2.8 per game).

Georgia League's Best in Assists

The Lady Bulldogs have totaled 214 assists —a total that leads all SEC schools and ranks seventh in NCAA women's college basketball. Georgia averages 17.8 dimes per game, which is second-best in the conference.

Moving Up in the Rankings

Georgia is currently ranked No. 16 in the latest NET rankings. Before defeating No. 23 Tennessee Thursday night, Georgia was receiving votes in both the Associated Press and Coaches Polls.

Reaching 100

Georgia scored 107 points against Appalachian State on Dec. 22. That total marked the most points by a Georgia team since the 2000-01 campaign and was the first time the Lady Bulldogs have reached the 100-point mark since 2007.

Barker Named SEC Freshman of the Week

Sarah Ashlee Barker was named the league's Freshman of the Week following performances against East Carolina and Oklahoma. Barker continues to play valuable minutes and has made several key plays for the Lady Bulldogs this season.

With 2:19 left in the overtime period against Georgia Tech, 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 then hit a 3-pointer in the fourth quarter against Oklahoma, giving Georgia its largest lead of the game at 14.

Barker recorded her first career double-double with 10 pts. and 12 rebs. against Georgia State.

Georgia Reaches 1,000-Win Milestone

With its win against East Carolina on Dec. 3, Georgia became one of just two SEC programs (Tennessee) and one of 16 nationwide to reach the 1,000-win mark. The team commemorated the milestone with a special social media video narrated by Andy Landers and Joni Taylor.

Taylor, Connally Reach Important Marks Against Tech

Georgia defeated Georgia Tech this year to improve the Lady Bulldogs' record to 36-7 against the Yellow Jackets. The win also marked the 100th of Coach Taylor's career. Senior guard Gabby Connally reached the 1,000-point mark with a first-half basket against Tech.

Staiti's Streak

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 over the last nine contests. That trend has continued into the 2020-21 campaign. She has now scored in double figures in 19 of her last 21 games and has eight double-doubles during that time. A full breakdown of her last 21 games is on page 5 of the notes.

Staiti Among Georgia's All-time Best Shot Blockers

With 151 blocks, Jenna Staiti stands in ninth place on Georgia's all-time blocked shots chart. Tawana McDonald owns the UGA career record with 297 in her career.

Connally Reaches Career Top-10

Georgia senior Gabby Connally has moved into ninth place on UGA's career 3-pt field goals made chart. Connally has totaled 157 during her time at Georgia.

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.

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.

Focus on Community

Georgia's Joni Taylor has put a focus on community service during her six seasons as head coach. This past fall, Taylor and her team took action once again by hosting a Water Bottle Drive for the local Boys and Girls Club of Athens. The community stepped up in a big way, donating close to 150 water bottles.

"We were absolutely blown away by the turnout," Taylor said. "COVID-19 has affected all of our lives in so many ways. For the Boys and Girls Club, COVID protocols eliminated the use of water fountains, so the organization needed new, re-fillable water bottles. When our ladies found out about this, they immediately wanted to help. I could not be more proud of their efforts and the efforts of all those who came by today. It's another step forward in making a meaningful impact in our community."