WBB Game Notes: Georgia Hosts LSU on Senior Day

Thursday, January 28

Athens, Ga.

7:00 PM

University of Georgia

LSU

January 27, 2021 | Women's Basketball

Game Notes

#21/22 Georgia Lady Bulldogs (13-2, 5-2 SEC) vs. LSU Tigers (6-7, 4-3 SEC)
Thursday, Jan. 28 | 7 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: None
Video Stream: SEC Network + (Matt Stewart and Mark Slonaker)
Audio Stream: georgiadogs.com

JONI TAYLOR - HEAD COACH

SIXTH SEASON // RECORD: 111-60 (.650)

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	11.1	2.1
G; 5-6; Sr.; San Antonio, Texas
23	Que Morrison	9.9	5.0
G; 5-7; Sr.; Riverdale, Ga.
11	Maya Caldwell	7.5	2.8
G; 5-11; Sr.; Charlotte, N.C.
20	Jordan Isaacs	4.5	3.0
F; 6-0; So.; Alpharetta, Ga.
14	Jenna Staiti	14.7	7.9
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 faces a quick turnaround with the LSU Tigers coming to town for a Thursday night meeting at 7 p.m. inside Stegeman Coliseum.
The Lady Bulldogs are coming off a 75-73 win against No. 19 Arkansas on Monday. Senior guard Gabby Connally knocked in an 18-foot jumper with 0.9 seconds on the clock to seal the win.
Georgia will honor its four seniors -- Maya Caldwell, Gabby Connally, Que Morrison and Jenna Staiti -- in a pregame ceremony on Thursday. Georgia's top four scorers this season have combined for 259 starts, 422 games played and close to 60 wins in their careers.
Each of Georgia's four seniors have already earned their undergraduate degrees and all are pursuing master's degrees at UGA.
Georgia is ranked No. 21 in the Coaches Poll, No. 22 in the Associated Press top-25 and No. 14 in the NET rankings.
Georgia boasts a 3-1 record against teams ranked in the NET top-25.
The Lady Bulldogs are in the midst of a tough schedule that includes contests against three ranked teams in the span of 10 days. Even though LSU is not ranked, the Tigers have won two of their last three games, including a 65-61 victory against No. 7-ranked Texas A&M. LSU is coming off a close 69-65 loss to No. 3 South Carolina.
Georgia has won four of the last five meetings against LSU, including last season's 73-56 victory in Baton Rouge.
Georgia is the only SEC team to rank in the top five of the league in every defensive category. The Lady Bulldogs pace the conference in scoring defense (58.1 ppg), are second in blocked shots (6.1 per game), fourth in field-goal percentage defense (.362), third in 3-point field-goal percentage defense (.261) and fifth in steals (9.5 per game).
The Lady Bulldogs are one of the most unselfish teams in the SEC. Georgia ranks second in the conference in assists, averaging 17.3 dimes per game.
Senior guard Que Morrison is one of the top all-around players in the conference. She ranks eighth in steals (1.9 per game) and 13th in assists (3.7 per game) and assist/turnover ratio (1.6).

Series Breakdown

Overall: Georgia leads, 27-21
In Athens: Georgia leads, 16-6
In Baton Rouge: LSU leads, 11-7
Neutral Sites: Tied, 4-4
Current Streak: Georgia has won four of the last five meetings
Last Meeting: Georgia won, 73-56 (2/23/20) in Baton Rouge
Largest Margin of Victory: Georgia W, 88-53 (2/20/93)
Largest Defeat: LSU W, 84-53 (1/11/87)
Full Series History

Georgia Senior Guards Heat Up

Seniors Que Morrison and Gabby Connally combined to hit 12 three-pointers and totaled 67 points in Georgia's three wins against Florida, Tennessee and Ole Miss. The two combined to hit just five 3-pointers in the first two SEC games of the year.

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 5-1 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.

Coombs Georgia's newest defensive back

Redshirt junior guard Mikayla Coombs grew up wanting to play football, and she has certainly carried that passion over to the basketball floor. Coombs is one of Georgia's top defensive players as she currently ranks 13th in the SEC in total steals with 27. In two games against Tennessee and Ole Miss , Coombs has hit 9-of-14 from the field (64 percent), scored 19 points, totaled seven rebounds, 12 assists and four steals.

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 74.5 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 15 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 92 total blocks. Senior center Jenna Staiti leads the SEC with 43 total blocks.

Georgia One of League's Most Unselfish Teams

The Lady Bulldogs average 17.3 assists per game, which ranks second in the SEC. Georgia has totaled a conference-best 259 dimes during the 2020-21 campaign.

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 ... Again

Sarah Ashlee Barker has been named SEC Freshman of the Week twice this season. She earned her most recent honor after scoring 11 points, including nine off a trio of 3-pointers in the second quarter, against Ole Miss.

Barker 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.

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 22 of her last 24 games and has nine double-doubles during that time.

Staiti Among Georgia's All-time Best Shot Blockers

With 161 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. Staiti needs just two blocks to move into eighth place.

Two-Sport Star in Rare Company

Sophomore guard Chloe 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

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.