WBB Game Notes: Georgia Treks to No. 7 Texas A&M

Sunday, January 31

College Station, Tex.

5:00 PM ET

University of Georgia

Texas A&M

January 29, 2021 | Women's Basketball

Game Notes

#21/22 Georgia Lady Bulldogs (13-3, 5-3 SEC) vs. #7/8 Texas A&M Aggies (15-1, 6-1 SEC)
Sunday, Jan. 31 | 5 p.m. ET/4 p.m. CT
Reed Arena | Bryan-College Station, Texas
Radio: Bulldog Sports Network (Jeff Dantzler) 960 AM The REF, WXKT 103.7 FM in Athens
TV: SEC Network (Eric Frede and Christy Thomaskutty)
Video Stream: SEC Network +
Audio Stream: georgiadogs.com

JONI TAYLOR - HEAD COACH

SIXTH SEASON // RECORD: 111-61 (.645)

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	10.8	2.1
G; 5-6; Sr.; San Antonio, Texas
23	Que Morrison	10.0	4.9
G; 5-7; Sr.; Riverdale, Ga.
11	Maya Caldwell	7.3	2.9
G; 5-11; Sr.; Charlotte, N.C.
20	Jordan Isaacs	4.2	3.1
F; 6-0; So.; Alpharetta, Ga.
14	Jenna Staiti	14.9	7.9
C; 6-4; R-Sr.; Cumming, Ga.

Opening Tip Storylines

Georgia hits the road to face its third ranked foe in the last four games with a trip to No. 7 Texas A&M. Tip time is set for 5 p.m. ET/4 p.m. CT Sunday in Bryan-College Station, Texas.
The Lady Bulldogs are ranked No. 21 in the Coaches Poll, No. 22 in the Associated Press top-25 and No. 17 in the latest NET rankings.
Georgia's last two trips to College Station have featured back-and-forth games against the Aggies. In 2018, then-freshman guard Gabby Connally scored 37 points (the third-highest single-game total in UGA history) to lead Georgia past Texas A&M in overtime, 92-84. Last season, the Lady Bulldogs came up short in a 64-63 loss.
Georgia is looking to snap a three-game losing skid against the Aggies. Texas A&M leads the all-time series, 8-3.
This year's Georgia team leads the SEC in scoring defense, holding opponents to 58.2 points per game. The Lady Bulldogs rank in the top-5 of the SEC in field-goal percentage defense (.364), 3-point field-goal percentage defense (.259), blocked shots (96 total, 6.0 per game) and steals (152 total, 9.5 per game).
Georgia honored its four seniors during its 60-52 loss to LSU this past Thursday. The senior foursome have all graduated from UGA and are pursuing master's degrees.
The Lady Bulldogs led LSU, 41-35, at the end of the third quarter. The Tigers outscored Georgia, 25-11, in the final frame.
Senior center Jenna Staiti has scored in double figures in 23 of the last 25 games. Staiti paces the conference with 45 total blocks.
Senior guard Que Morrison is one of the top all-around players in the conference. She ranks in the top-15 of the league in steals, assists and assist-to-turnover ratio.
Georgia features one of the deepest teams in the nation. The Lady Bulldogs have played 11 or more players in all but five games this season.

Series Breakdown

Overall: Texas A&M leads, 8-3
In Athens: Texas A&M leads, 4-2
In Bryan-College station: Texas A&M leads, 3-1
Neutral Sites: Texas A&M leads, 1-0
Current Streak: Texas A&M has won three-straight meetings
Last Meeting: Texas A&M won 64-47 (2/20/20) in Athens
Largest Margin of Victory: 10 points, Georgia won 69-59 (1/5/17)
Largest Defeat: 41 points, Texas A&M won 79-38 (3/27/11) in Dallas
Full Series History

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.

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.

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 10th in the SEC in total steals with 29. 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 73.1 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 16 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 96 total blocks. Senior center Jenna Staiti leads the SEC with 45 total blocks.

Georgia One of League's Most Unselfish Teams

The Lady Bulldogs average 16.8 assists per game, which ranks second in the SEC. Georgia has totaled a conference-best 268 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 23 of her last 25 games and has nine double-doubles during that time.

Staiti Among Georgia's All-time Best Shot Blockers

With 163 blocks , Jenna Staiti stands is tied in eighth 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.