Turner, Lady Bulldogs Head To SECs With Confidence
March 04, 2025 | Women's Basketball, The Frierson Files
By John Frierson
Staff Writer
During a season in which the Georgia women's basketball team has been reliant on its freshmen since the inaugural opening tip back in early November, two of those first-year players, Trinity Turner and Mia Woolfolk, were recognized by the SEC on Tuesday as members of the conference's All-Freshman Team. And for good reason.
For Woolfolk, the 6-foot-3 forward, it was her second SEC honor in as many days. On Monday, after leading the Lady Bulldogs with a career-high 20 points during Sunday's upset win at then-No. 11 Tennessee, Woolfolk was named the SEC Freshman of the Week. Between field goals and free throws, Woolfolk hit 13 of the 16 shots she put up against the Lady Vols.
Georgia (12-18, 4-12 SEC) had five players score in double figures in the big win; those five players — freshmen Woolfolk and Turner and seniors or fifth-year players De'mauri Flournoy, Asia Avinger and Roxane Makolo — combined to score 70 of the team's 72 points against Tennessee. Turner, the 5-6 guard, had 11 points, four assists and four rebounds.
"I feel like we needed that win," said Turner, who earned multiple Florida player of the year honors during her prep career at Dr. Phillips High School in Orlando. "That win felt awesome."
For the season, Georgia's freshmen have scored 47% of the team's points. And Turner has been Georgia's leading scorer most of the way, though never by a wide margin over Flournoy, Woolfolk or Avinger.
Heading into Wednesday's SEC Tournament opener against Arkansas at the Bon Secours Wellness Arena in Greenville, S.C., Turner is averaging a team-high 12.2 points per game. Flournoy and Woolfolk are averaging 11.4 points a game and Avinger is at 9.8. Turner is also second on the team with 85 assists and second with 50 steals; she's trailing Avinger (135 assists, 58 steals) in both categories.
Turner has started 26 of 30 games this season, and she had 15 points and six rebounds in the Lady Bulldogs' opener against N.C. Central. She's scored in double figures 18 times and has twice poured in 28 points, at Georgia Tech and at LSU.
Turner is one of James and Shuwenda Turner's six children, and she said she first got interested in basketball through her father, who played at Bethune-Cookman in the late 1980s and was one of her early coaches.
"I feel like I've been training for this," she said of the adjustment to the college game. "It's way different from high school, way better. The players are 100 times better, so I definitely had to raise my game."
It's been a challenging season for the Lady Bulldogs, who have had some rough patches but head into the conference tournament with some confidence after beating Auburn in their home finale and then closed out the regular season with the win in Knoxville. Georgia lost five times in February, all to ranked teams, including to No. 2 South Carolina, No. 8 Kentucky, No. 7 LSU and No. 1 Texas.
"We got a couple of Ws back-to-back, so that's wonderful coming into the SEC tournament," Turner said. "Those wins have definitely built up our confidence a lot."
It has been a season of learning and growth for the freshmen, including Turner. There have been some highlights, from Woolfolk's recent big games to Turner's game-winning 3-pointer at the buzzer to pull off a come-from-behind win against Missouri in January. She had 18 points, seven rebounds and seven assists in that 74-72 win at Stegeman Coliseum.
As coach Katie Abrahamson-Henderson said after that win over Mizzou: "The good thing about them is they're playing through all these hard times," Coach ABE said. "Freshmen don't get to play (much), usually, and our freshmen are playing."
They're playing, they're going through the usual ups and downs, and now they enter March with a season's worth of experience under their belts.
"I think we're built for this," Turner said. "I think our coaches have gotten us into a position where we know what we want to do, and we've just got to play our roles."
This will be Georgia's second game against Arkansas this season. On Feb. 9, the Lady Bulldogs edged the Razorbacks 62-61. Woolfolk led Georgia with 16 points in that win, and Turner was next with 12.
Staff Writer
During a season in which the Georgia women's basketball team has been reliant on its freshmen since the inaugural opening tip back in early November, two of those first-year players, Trinity Turner and Mia Woolfolk, were recognized by the SEC on Tuesday as members of the conference's All-Freshman Team. And for good reason.
For Woolfolk, the 6-foot-3 forward, it was her second SEC honor in as many days. On Monday, after leading the Lady Bulldogs with a career-high 20 points during Sunday's upset win at then-No. 11 Tennessee, Woolfolk was named the SEC Freshman of the Week. Between field goals and free throws, Woolfolk hit 13 of the 16 shots she put up against the Lady Vols.
Georgia (12-18, 4-12 SEC) had five players score in double figures in the big win; those five players — freshmen Woolfolk and Turner and seniors or fifth-year players De'mauri Flournoy, Asia Avinger and Roxane Makolo — combined to score 70 of the team's 72 points against Tennessee. Turner, the 5-6 guard, had 11 points, four assists and four rebounds.
"I feel like we needed that win," said Turner, who earned multiple Florida player of the year honors during her prep career at Dr. Phillips High School in Orlando. "That win felt awesome."
For the season, Georgia's freshmen have scored 47% of the team's points. And Turner has been Georgia's leading scorer most of the way, though never by a wide margin over Flournoy, Woolfolk or Avinger.
Heading into Wednesday's SEC Tournament opener against Arkansas at the Bon Secours Wellness Arena in Greenville, S.C., Turner is averaging a team-high 12.2 points per game. Flournoy and Woolfolk are averaging 11.4 points a game and Avinger is at 9.8. Turner is also second on the team with 85 assists and second with 50 steals; she's trailing Avinger (135 assists, 58 steals) in both categories.
Turner has started 26 of 30 games this season, and she had 15 points and six rebounds in the Lady Bulldogs' opener against N.C. Central. She's scored in double figures 18 times and has twice poured in 28 points, at Georgia Tech and at LSU.
Turner is one of James and Shuwenda Turner's six children, and she said she first got interested in basketball through her father, who played at Bethune-Cookman in the late 1980s and was one of her early coaches.
"I feel like I've been training for this," she said of the adjustment to the college game. "It's way different from high school, way better. The players are 100 times better, so I definitely had to raise my game."
It's been a challenging season for the Lady Bulldogs, who have had some rough patches but head into the conference tournament with some confidence after beating Auburn in their home finale and then closed out the regular season with the win in Knoxville. Georgia lost five times in February, all to ranked teams, including to No. 2 South Carolina, No. 8 Kentucky, No. 7 LSU and No. 1 Texas.
"We got a couple of Ws back-to-back, so that's wonderful coming into the SEC tournament," Turner said. "Those wins have definitely built up our confidence a lot."
It has been a season of learning and growth for the freshmen, including Turner. There have been some highlights, from Woolfolk's recent big games to Turner's game-winning 3-pointer at the buzzer to pull off a come-from-behind win against Missouri in January. She had 18 points, seven rebounds and seven assists in that 74-72 win at Stegeman Coliseum.
As coach Katie Abrahamson-Henderson said after that win over Mizzou: "The good thing about them is they're playing through all these hard times," Coach ABE said. "Freshmen don't get to play (much), usually, and our freshmen are playing."
They're playing, they're going through the usual ups and downs, and now they enter March with a season's worth of experience under their belts.
"I think we're built for this," Turner said. "I think our coaches have gotten us into a position where we know what we want to do, and we've just got to play our roles."
This will be Georgia's second game against Arkansas this season. On Feb. 9, the Lady Bulldogs edged the Razorbacks 62-61. Woolfolk led Georgia with 16 points in that win, and Turner was next with 12.
Assistant Sports Communications Director John Frierson is the staff writer for the UGA Athletic Association and curator of the ITA Men's Tennis Hall of Fame. You can find his work at: Frierson Files.
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