Game Notes: No. 17 Georgia Faces Florida in Regular Season Finale

Sunday, February 28

Gainesville, Fla.

Noon

University of Georgia

Florida

Game Notes: No. 17 Georgia Faces Florida in Regular Season Finale

February 27, 2021 | Women's Basketball

Game Notes

#17/18 Georgia Lady Bulldogs (17-5, 9-5 SEC) vs. Florida Gators (10-11, 3-10 SEC)
Sunday, Feb. 28, 2021 | noon ET
Gainesville, Fla. | Exactech Arena
Radio: Bulldog Sports Network (Jeff Dantzler) 960 AM The REF, WXKT 103.7 FM in Athens
TV: ESPN2 (Brenda VanLengen and Holly Warlick)
Video Stream: SEC Network +
Audio Stream: georgiadogs.com

JONI TAYLOR - HEAD COACH

SIXTH SEASON // RECORD: 115-63 (.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	12.5	2.0
G; 5-6; Sr.; San Antonio, Texas
23	Que Morrison	11.2	5.0
G; 5-7; Sr.; Riverdale, Ga.
11	Maya Caldwell	6.9	3.1
G; 5-11; Sr.; Charlotte, N.C.
20	Jordan Isaacs	4.0	2.7
F; 6-0; So.; Alpharetta, Ga.
14	Jenna Staiti	13.9	7.7
C; 6-4; R-Sr.; Cumming, Ga.

Opening Tip Storylines

Georgia is back on the road to face the Florida Gators this Sunday in Gainesville, Fla. Tip time is set for noon ET at Exactech Arena.
The Lady Bulldogs have been successful on the road this season, boasting a 7-2 record. Georgia's only two road losses are to top-5 teams South Carolina and Texas A&M.
Georgia has won the last seven meetings against the Gators, including three-straight in Gainesville. The Lady Bulldogs' senior class is undefeated against Florida.
Seniors Maya Caldwell, Gabby Connally, Que Morrison and Jenna Staiti have led Georgia both on and off the floor. Each have already earned their undergraduate degrees and are pursuing master's degrees at UGA.
Senior Jenna Staiti is the SEC's blocked shots leader with 69 total and 3.1 per game. Steady Staiti has scored in double figures in 26 of her last 31 games dating back to last season.
Que Morrison -- a member of the 2020 SEC All-Defensive Team -- is one of the top defensive players in the nation. Morrison, who guards the opponent's top player night-in and night-out, has held 10 of her 14 opponents in SEC play below their season averages.
Georgia has arguably the top defense in the SEC. The Lady Bulldogs are second in scoring defense (59.2 ppg), third in field-goal percentage defense (.366), second in 3-point FG percentage defense (.273), second in blocks (6.3 per game) and fifth in steals (9.0 per game). Georgia is the only SEC team to rank in the top-5 in all these categories.
The Lady Bulldogs have exceeded expectations once again under head coach Joni Taylor. Georgia -- picked ninth in the SEC preseason coaches poll -- will finish no worse than fifth this season. It is the fifth time in six years Georgia has exceeded its preseason rank under Coach Taylor.
Florida head coach Cam Newbauer was an assistant coach at Georgia from 2007-12 under Hall of Fame coach Andy Landers.

Series Breakdown

Overall: Georgia leads, 60-17
In Athens: Georgia leads, 32-5
In Gainesville: Georgia leads, 26-11
Neutral Sites: Georgia leads, 2-1
Current Streak: Georgia has won seven-straight meetings
Last Meeting: Georgia won 68-58 (1/10/21)
Largest Margin of Victory: Georgia won, 105-62 (1/12/03)
Largest Defeat: Florida won, 94- 61 (1/7/98)
Full Series History

2 for Threeeee

Senior guard Gabby Connally goes by the nickname '2' to honor her jersey number. The San Antonio native might want to think about changing it to '3' following a pair of impressive shooting performances against Missouri and Tennessee

After hitting a career-high six 3-pointers to tie her season-best of 29 points at Missouri, Connally made five 3-pointers in the win against Tennessee. She is the first Georgia player since Mary Beth Lycett (Smart) in 2003 to post back-to-back games with five or more 3-pointers against SEC teams.

Morrison Healthy and Leading Lady Bulldogs

2020 SEC All-Defensive Team selection Que Morrison was a highly-recruited player coming out of high school. In her first year with the Lady Bulldogs, she made an immediate impact, placing on the SEC All-Freshman Team.

In her sophomore campaign (2018-19), Morrison missed the first eight games due to a torn meniscus in her left knee. Then, in 2019-20, she had an injury to her foot before the season began and suffered a torn labrum in her right shoulder to end her junior campaign midway through SEC play.

This year, not only is Morrison considered one of the top defensive players in the conference, she is also leading offensively, having scored in double figures in seven-straight games for the first time in her career.

More on Morrison

Morrison is one of the top all-around players in the SEC. The four-year starter ranks in the top-15 among SEC players in assists, steals and assist-to-turnover ratio. In addition to scoring in double figures in seven-straight games, she has scored over 20 points twice this year -- both for the first time in her career.

Steady Staiti Reaching 1,000

Lady Bulldog senior center Jenna Staiti needs just 41 points to reach the 1,000 point mark for her career. Earlier this year, Staiti crossed the 500-rebound mark. She is looking to become just the eighth Lady Bulldog to record 1,000 career points, 500 rebounds and 150 blocks. All seven of the previous Georgia players to accomplish that feat (Katrina McClain, Tracy Henderson, Tammye Jenkins, Christi Thomas, Tawana McDonald, Angel Robinson and Caliya Robinson) earned All-SEC honors.

In the Paint and On The Move

Georgia has been an improved team on the offensive end compared to last season, upping its points per game by nearly 10 points and scoring 80 or more points six times this year (after only doing so twice last season).

Two reasons for that success include scoring in transition and scoring in the paint. The Lady Bulldogs have outscored their opponents in transition in all but two games and have owned an advantage in the paint in 12 of 22 contests.

Lady Bulldogs Hit 60 percent

Georgia has made over 60 percent from the field twice this season, doing so in games against Mercer and Appalachian State. Prior to this season, Georgia had not shot 60 percent or better in a game since 2009.

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.

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 7-2 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 10th in the SEC in total steals with 37. In two games against Tennessee (1/14) 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.

Block Party for the Bulldogs

The Lady Bulldogs are second in the SEC and fifth nationally with 138 total blocks. Georgia averages 6.3 swats per game.

Georgia is League's Most Unselfish Team

The Lady Bulldogs average 15.6 assists per game, which leads the SEC. Georgia has totaled a conference-best 344 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 26 of her last 31 games and has 10 double-doubles during that time.

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.

Georgia Inks Pair of McDonald's All-Americans

Jillian Hollingshead (Powder Springs, Ga.) and Reigan Richardson (Huntersville, N.C.) — two signees in the Georgia Lady Bulldog basketball team's 2021 class — have been named McDonald's All-Americans, the organization announced on Tuesday.

It marks the first time in program history Georgia 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.

Georgia is one of only three Southeastern Conference schools — joining South Carolina and Arkansas — to have a signee on this year's list.

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."