|
Home > SECWB News & More! > SEC Teams > Georgia > Georgia vs. Oakland Preview
Georgia vs. Oakland Preview
by Kel Kyle, SECWB.com
Posted: November 29th, 2007 @ 1:09pm
Ending nearly a four year drought in holiday play on Saturday, the No. 7 Georgia Lady Bulldogs host the Oakland Golden Grizzlies at Stegeman Coliseum tonight at 7:00 p.m.
In their last meeting, the Lady Bulldogs defeated the Grizzlies 99-56 (Dec. 8, 2002) in Athens and leads the series 2-0. So far this season, the Lady Bulldogs are averaging 77.3 points per game with a 47.5% rebounds per game average. Leading the way are senior Tasha Humphrey (15.8 ppg) and sophomore Ashley Houts (13.7 ppg).
The Oakland Golden Grizzlies enter tonight's contest 3-1, with their lone loss to another SEC team, Auburn (71-63) on November 21st. With three players scoring in double-digits - Jessica Pike (20.3 ppg), Melissa Jeltema (13.5 ppg) and Hanna Reising (11.3 ppg), Oakland should be able to keep the game interesting. The problem for them or possibly UGA, are the "trees". The Lady Bulldogs start a trio of 6-3 players (seniors, Tasha Humphrey, Megan Darrah and Rebecca Rowsey) while the Grizzlies tallest starters are 5-11. Georgia head coach Andy Landers realizes this poses "a very difficult challenge. They’re very well coached on the offensive end of the floor with a motion offense that makes it difficult for big kids to get out and defend and also makes it difficult for guards to defend. We have to keep up. We have to keep them out of the paint. We have to take threes away. It’s not an easy proposition because they truly run a motion offense."
PROBABLE STARTERS:
Georgia: Ashley Houts, Angela Puleo, Megan Darrah, Rebecca Rowsey and Tasha Humphrey
Oakland: Riikka Terava, Jessica Pike, Melissa Jeltema, Hanna Reising and Anna Patritto
WHO WINS:
Georgia is solid in tight games this season and has worked hard to keep it's perfect record (6-0) having almost been upset two times this season (Temple & Southern Cal). The key to Georgia's win will almost certainly be their defensive stops. In the Temple game, the Lady Bulldogs used a series of defensive stops to regain the lead after falling behind 51-49 with 4:41 to play. After taking the lead 52-51 Sophomore Ashley Houts hit Angela Puelo in transition who later hit Angel Robinson with a pinpoint pass that turned into a layup before the fat lady sang.
In the Southern Cal game, the Lady Bulldogs led 58-54 with two minutes left before USC cut that margin by two and then gained possession with only 13 seconds left. After missing a three-pointer and the rebound, Georiga Bulldog Angel Robinson switched on a screen and stole the inbounds pass to what? Yep, hear the fat lady sing again! "The fact that we’ve been able to make some plays coming down the stretch in both of those games has been huge," Andy Landers said. "We probably won the those games not
by running stuff off of sets but by people stepping up, making good decisions and creating plays for themselves along with their teammates. That makes you feel good because we haven’t always been able to do that."
MILESTONES:
- Head Coach Andy Landers is 10 victories shy of his 700th win at UGA.
- Tasha Humphrey is 18 points shy of No. 7 Wanda Holloway among UGA's career leaders.
- Megan Darrah is 9 three-point FG's made from No. 10 (Camille Lowe) among UGA's career leaders and 8 three-point FG attempts from No. 10, also held by Camille Lowe.
INTERESTING TIDBIT:
Former Lady Bulldog, Deanna "Tweety" Nolan stars in the WNBA not far from Oakland's campus in Detroit.
UP NEXT:
The Lady Bulldogs take on the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets at Stegeman on Sunday, December 2, 2007.
|
|
|
|
