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Home > SECWB News & More! > SEC Teams > Georgia > SEC, Big 12 Powers Set For State Farm Tip-Off Classic
SEC, Big 12 Powers Set For State Farm Tip-Off Classic
Posted: July 26th, 2005 @ 10:33am
Georgia forward Tasha Humphrey (UGA Photo) |
07/22/2005: KNOXVILLE, Tenn.
Texas Tech and Baylor from the Big 12 Conference will take on LSU and Georgia, respectively, from the Southeastern Conference in this year's Tip-Off Classic, an event that annually features four of the nation's top women's collegiate basketball squads in a season-opening doubleheader.
Defending NCAA national champion Baylor will square off against Georgia in a 1:00 p.m. EST (12:00 noon CST) matchup while Texas Tech will host LSU in a 3:30 p.m. EST (2:30 p.m. CST) contest on Sunday, November 13, at the United Spirit Arena on the Texas Tech campus in Lubbock. Both games will be televised on ESPN2.
"We are so excited about the opportunity to host what we consider the most prestigious preseason event for women's basketball," said Marsha Sharp, entering her 24th season as the Texas Tech head coach. "We think it will be a challenge for us to play LSU, but we are excited to be able to showcase our arena and our fans."
This will be the 13th annual Tip-Off Classic. This also marks the second consecutive year that the event will be played in the Lone Star State. Last year's event was played in Austin at the University of Texas. LSU and Baylor made their first-ever showings in the event with the Lady Tigers nipping the Lady Bears, 71-70, and Texas downing Penn State, 84-69. Baylor avenged that loss later in the season with a 68-57 win over LSU in the semifinals of the NCAA Final Four in Indianapolis.
Texas Tech and Georgia also have previous Tip-Off Classic experience. Texas Tech played in the inaugural Tip-Off Classic in 1993, downing Vanderbilt, 74-67, in Jackson, Tenn. The Lady Raiders also played in the 2001 (lost to Duke, 85-69, in Durham) and 2002 (lost to Louisiana Tech, 85-76, in Knoxville) Tip-Off Classics. Georgia's previous Tip-Off Classic appearance came in 2000 with the Lady Bulldogs falling, 99-70, to the defending national champion Connecticut Huskies in Hartford.
Baylor went 33-3 last year en route to capturing the NCAA title to go along with a Big 12 Conference championship and finished the year on top of the final USA TODAY/ESPN Top 25 poll for the 2005 season. Kim Mulkey-Robertson has compiled a 131-38 ledger in five seasons as the Lady Bears' head coach.
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