The Georgia Lady Bulldogs won their ninth game in a row as they declawed the Wildcats of Davidson, 79-65 in Athens today.

In front of a crowd of 4,269, the Lady Bulldogs claimed the court and lead fairly quickly (10-2) before Wildcats started to scratch their way into the game.  And boy did the claws come out as they took the lead 23-20 with 6:35 remaining.  The lead would change six times with two ties along the way as each team fought for power.  And then it happened ... an explosion of sorts ... after struggling to maintain their lead, the dawgs went on a 17-2 run. They were like spider-women, attacking the boards, making shots, passing the ball effectively and playing solid defense.  At the end of the first half, Georiga led by a dozen, 37-25.

Davidson's plan of attack from the outset was to deny Tasha Humphrey as much as possible. But that plan never really came to fruition. As a team they only pulled down 2 boards. Gassie Kelly led the Wildcats with 8 points as Danielle Hemerka and Honna Housley contributed 5 points each. Davidson shot 30.3% from the field (10-33) and attempted 18 three-pointers and completing only 5 at 27.8%.

The key to the 12 point lead at the half was most certainly Georgia's domination on and off the glass. The Lady Bulldogs put together more offensive rebounds than Davidson had defensive rebounds.  Swiping a total of 29 boards to Davidson's 13 in the first half, really took a toll on Wildcats.  Add to that their first encounter with Tasha Humphrey (4 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 blocked shots and 1 steal) and the Wildcats were ready for a rest. Angel Robinson went 5-7 scoring a total of 10 points and reigning Freshman of the Year, Ashley Houts contributed 9 points. As a team, Georgia shot 48.4% (15-31) from the field, 40% on three-pointers and went 5-9 from the charity stripe. 

And now for the bad...the Lady Bulldogs had TWELVE, yep an even dozen of TURNOVERs.  It wasn't just one or two dawgs, it was truly a team effort with 8 players actively participiating.  This is clearly something Georgia needs to stop toote suite.  With full-on SEC play just around the corner, they can't afford to give away valuable possessions and continue to win games. 

Second Half Same As the First?

In a nutshell? No. In fact quite the opposite. After a shakey first half, the Lady Bulldogs began doing what dogs do best, chase the cat -- right out of the gym.  During the first two minutes in the second half, the Wildcats would get within 8 points, but that was as close it would get.  Even though Tasha Humphrey fouled out with 6:31 to play, she still managed to get a double-double this season with 10 points and 10 rebounds. All in all, six Lady Bulldogs (Houts, Puleo, Darrah, Robinson, Humphrey and Marshall) scored in double-digits today.  As for those TO's, they too were pruned with only 4 occurences in the second half. 

Coach Quotes

Georgia Head Coach Andy Landers - "We really dominated on the boards today. I think we get better and better rebounding the ball. As positive as that was, we didn’t box out and that is something that we could do better on. The day is going to come when someone is going to want to get the ball as bad as us, and when that day comes we’re going to wish that we were "boxer-outers.""

Davidson Head Coach Annette Watts - "There are talented teams in the Southern Conference, but we won’t see teams as skilled as Georgia or teams like Georgia Tech, Virginia and Auburn. So I am glad we scheduled this game and I am glad we played this game. There are plenty of positives that we can take away from this game, and that will propel us into the rest of the season."

Georgia Milestones Accomplished Today

Up Next for Georgia

The Lady Bulldogs will get seven days off to face winter exams and I would bet Coach Landers sets them to task on boxing out and better ball handling to cut down those turnovers.  In a little over a week from today, Georgia will host the Mercer Lady Bears on Monday, December 17th, 2007.  Game time is set for 7:00 p.m. EST.