The date...December 19, 2005.  The location...Liacouras Center, home of the Temple Owls.  The result...Georgia Lady Bulldogs lose in OT by a score of 66-69.  That was the first and only meeting for these two teams and you can bet tonight's game will be all about a W for the Lady Dawgs.

Georgia stands at 3-0 in regular season thus far and hosts it's fourth game in a week at Stegeman Coliseum. In their last outing, the Lady Bulldogs whooped it up on Georgia Southern by a score of 105-66.  Thanks in major part to the scoring duo of Tasha Humphrey ("T-Hump") and reigning SEC Freshman of the Year, Ashely Houts* who are responsible for 102 combined points in three games out of 270 total.  But that won't be enough to take on these highly competitve Owls.  They'll also need assistance from freshman shooting sensation and current leading scorer, Angela Puelo (20 points in the DT3 exhibition opener) as well as senior Megan Darrah and sophomore Angel Robinson - all expected to start this evening.  Darrah tied her career high with six assists and no turnovers in the GMU game and Robinson had her first double-digit outing this season against Georgia Southern.

Three of Coach Dawn Staley's Owls returned from last year's 25-8 squad who went as far as the second round of the NCAA Tournament last spring, losing to Duke.  

On Monday, the Owls creamed Central Michigan in their season opener by a score of 83-45.  Lady Comfort led the Owls with 16 points while sophomore Ashley Morris had a career high 15 point game to help seal the deal.  Sharp shooter, freshman Lindsay Kimmel poured in 14 points and Central Michigan heard the fat lady sing. 

Not only will Georgia have to take care of  the ball, they'll need to stay on top of the boards if they expect to win tonight.  Last season, Temple out-rebounded 26 of 32 of their opponents, an average of 9.3 rpg.  At seventh in the nation and first in the A-10 last year, they seem dead set on keeping with that tradition this season, out-rebounding Central Michigan 51-21 on Monday.

The bottom line is, Staley's Owls are in it to win.  They have made an appearnce at March Madness for five of the last six seasons and we'll see their claws come out as they fight hard for their second W tonight.

UGA - Houts, Puleo, Darrah. Humphrey & Robinson.

TEMPLE - Morris, Eaddy, Bennett, Comfort & Landry

Who Wins?  My pocket change is on Georgia.  I'll be travelling to Athens to watch it all unfold and look forward to a good game -- maybe even a close one.  I'll be sure to fill you in on the details after I get home and fire up the pc.

Six Degrees:  I've often thought of Dawn Staley as an honorary bulldog...At the Pan American Games in Brazil last summer, Tasha Humphrey was the second-leading scorer on the U.S. National Team that won the Gold Medal and was coached by none other than Dawn Staley.  I had the privilege to watch Dawn Staley and former UGA stars Teresa Edwards & Katrina McClain lead the Americans to Gold at the 1996 Olympics here in Atlanta.  Furthering that Dawg connection, Staley and Edwards were co-captains of the 2000 U.S. Olympic team which won Gold again...and now you know the rest of the story.

Fun Fact:  Watch your back, UGA assistant coach La'Keshia Frett.  T-Hump is only 78 points away from No. 6 on UGA's Career Scoring Leader Board.  With Humphrey averaging 17.3 ppg this early in the season, we could see her "thump"ing  that number real soon. And from there she's knocking on Ms. Edwards door, who sits at No. 5 with a total of 1, 989. 

What's Next?  The Lady Dogs take a break for turkey day and then head to the Junkanoo Jam in Freeport, Bahamas.   Coach Staley and her Owls will continue their Georgia trip by facing off at Georgia Tech in Atlanta on Sunday afternoon.  She hasn't informed us of her plans for turkey day...

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*No. 1 scoring sophomore in the SEC as of games through November 14, 2005