Athens, Ga. — Five games against teams which advanced to the 2005 NCAA Final Four and four non-conference homecoming trips for current players highlight the 2005-06 Georgia Lady Bulldog basketball schedule, head coach Andy Landers announced on Wednesday.

All told, the Lady Dogs will play 11 games against teams which reached the 2005 NCAA Tournament.

“We’ve got an extremely challenging and difficult schedule in front of us,” Landers said. “Hopefully, we have the experience, maturity and ability to meet that challenge.”

As previously announced, the Lady Dogs will open the campaign by facing defending national champion Baylor on Sunday, Nov. 13, at 1:00 p.m. ET in the State Farm Tip-Off Classic in Lubbock, Texas. In addition, Georgia will face conference foes and Final Four participants LSU and Tennessee on a home-and-home basis during the season.

“We always play one of the most challenging schedules in the country,” Landers said. “Our RPI in past years would render that to be the case. However, this year we got a little assistance in terms of the difficulty from the Southeastern Conference when we picked up both LSU and Tennessee in our two-game rotation.”

Along with Baylor, other 2005 NCAA Tournament teams on tap during the non-conference schedule include the home opener against Santa Clara on Friday, Nov. 18; a game at TCU on Monday, Nov. 21; and trips to Middle Tennessee on Wednesday, Nov. 30 and Temple on Monday, Dec. 19.

NCAA squads on tap in SEC play include the SEC opener at Ole Miss on Thursday, Jan. 5; dates with Tennessee in Knoxville on Thursday, Jan. 12, and in Athens on Thursday, Feb. 16; games with LSU in Athens on Sunday, Jan. 22 and in Baton Rouge on Sunday, Feb. 12; and a trip to Vanderbilt on Sunday, Feb. 19.

During November and December, Georgia will spend much of its time on the road in locales familiar to several current Lady Bulldogs.

On Monday, Nov. 21, Georgia will play at TCU in Fort Worth, Texas, the hometown of senior Desiré Bostice. The Lady Bulldogs will then travel to Los Angeles — senior Alexis Kendrick’s hometown — for the Loyola Marymount Thanksgiving Tournament on Nov. 25 and Nov. 26.

On Monday, Dec. 19, the Lady Dogs will play at Temple in Philadelphia. During the summer of 2002, junior Cori Chambers played AAU basketball for the Philadelphia Runnin’ Rebels. Prior to the New Year, Georgia will play games at Memphis on Thursday, Dec. 29 and at Tennessee-Martin on Friday, Dec. 30. Both of those games will give friends and family a chance to see junior Rebecca Rowsey, a native of Henderson, Tenn.

“When we recruit players from other areas of the country, we try to get them back home at least once,” Landers said. “Playing at home is always an enjoyable experience, not only for those players but also for the rest of the team because it gives them a chance to meet their teammate’s families and friends and get to know even more about them.”

The 2005-06 Lady Bulldogs return all five starters and four more letterwinners from last year’s squad which finished 24-10 and advanced to the “Sweet 16″ of the NCAA Tournament. In addition, Ebony Felder — a three-year letterwinner from 2002-04 — was recently granted a sixth year to complete her collegiate eligibility by the NCAA. Georgia also will welcome a group of talented newcomers which includes: 6-5 Angel Robinson, a consensus first-team prep All-American; 6-6 Reicina Russell, a sophomore transfer who was a Freshman All-Big Ten performer for Penn State in 2003-04; and Danielle Taylor, the MVP of the 2005 Georgia North/South All-Star game.

Read on for the complete schedule

Great news for Ebony, the team, and the fans who would once again get to enjoy her style of play. The NCAA has awarded forward Ebony Felder a sixth year to complete her collegiate eligibility, Lady Bulldog head coach Andy Landers announced on Sunday. She still must get the OK from doctors as the season nears and she progresses in her rehabilitation. This NCAA decision was an important hurdle in her possible return.

“It’s great that the NCAA has seen fit to grant Ebony this sixth year,” Landers said. “Hopefully, her rehab will continue to go well and the doctors will clear her. Regardless, I’m excited that Ebony has this option.”

“In a sense, I just don’t think I could give up basketball without at least trying, even after this last surgery,” Felder said. “Compared to the other two years, last year probably wasn’t as hard because I was more focused on the surgery and rehab. I didn’t have time to dwell on not playing because I knew there was no way I would be physically able. It wasn’t going to happen. The previous two years, I had success coming back and that was a deciding factor in trying to come back this season.”

If she returns, she would join Reicina Russell and Angel Robinson as some impressive new depth on the Lady Dog frontcourt.

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Athens, Ga. — The Georgia Lady Bulldog basketball team posted a cumulative grade point average of 3.42 during the recently completed Summer Semester, with 13 of 14 players enrolled finishing with GPAs of 3.0 or higher during the session.

“It was a fantastic effort by everyone involved, most of all by our players,” head coach Andy Landers said.

Three members of the squad — Tasha Humphrey, Rebecca Rowsey and Danielle Taylor — posted perfect 4.0s to earn Presidential Scholar recognition from the University. In addition, Cori Chambers, Ebony Felder and Angel Robinson were named to the Dean’s List for posting GPAs between the 3.50-3.99 range.

–UGA Sports Communications

On the heels of being named to the preseason watch list for the Wooden Award, Geogia sophomore Tasha Humphrey was one of 25 women chosen as a preseason candidate for the State Farm Wade Trophy. Presented annually to the best women’s basketball player in NCAA Division I. The Wade Trophy, named after the late, legendary three-time national champion, Delta State University coach Lily Margaret Wade, debuted in 1978 as the first-ever women’s national player of the year award in college basketball.

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Athens, Ga. — Georgia sophomore Tasha Humphrey was named one of the 30 leading candidates for the 2005-06 Women’s Wooden Award by the National Advisory Board for the John R. Wooden Award on Thursday.

“The Committee had an incredibly difficult task in narrowing down the nation’s top 30 women¹s players,” said Mike Solum, director of the Wooden Award. “This list represents the elite of college basketball, and our entire team at the Wooden Award is excited to see the best players in the nation prove their case as basketball¹s player of the year.”

The list is composed of 30 student athletes who, based on last year¹s individual performance and team records, are the early frontrunners for the Wooden Award.These top 30 candidates are comprised of returning players, although transfers, freshmen and other players who excel throughout the season will be evaluated and considered.

In mid-January, the Wooden Award Committee will release the mid-season top 20 list, followed in March by the official voting ballot, consisting of approximately 15 top players who have proven to their universities that they are also making progress toward graduation and maintaining a cumulative 2.0 GPA.

Humphrey, a 6-3, sophomore forward from Gainesville, Ga., is looking to improve upon a freshman campaign when she captured virtually every award she could.

Humphrey was named co-National Freshman of the Year by the U.S. Basketball Writers Association last spring. She also was tabbed the SEC Freshman of the Year in balloting of both league coaches and media and was one of only two unanimous first-team All-SEC picks in separate voting of coaches and media. During the post-season, Humphrey was voted to the All-SEC Tournament and All-Chattanooga NCAA Regional teams.

Last season, Humphrey was the only player in the SEC to rank among the league’s top-10 statistical leaders in scoring (third), rebounding (fifth), field goal percentage (third) and free throw percentage (ninth). She led the Lady Bulldogs in scoring (19.0 ppg), rebounds (8.4 rpg), blocks (1.1 bpg) and field goal percentage (56.1 pct.). She also connected on 39.5 percent of her field goals and 77.2 percent of her free throws.

The Lady Bulldogs return all five starters and four more letterwinners from last year’s squad which finished 24-10 and advanced to the “Sweet 16″ of the NCAA Tournament. In addition, Georgia will welcome a group of newcomers which includes: 6-5 Angel Robinson, a consensus first-team prep All-American; 6-6 Reicina Russell, a sophomore transfer who was a Big Ten All-Freshman performer for Penn State in 2003-04; and Danielle Taylor, the MVP of the 2005 Georgia North/South All-Star game.

Georgia is set to open the 2005-06 season by facing defending national champion Baylor in the State Farm Tip-Off Classic in Lubbock, Texas on Sunday, Nov. 13. The Lady Bulldogs and Lady Bears will square off at 12:00 ET on espn2, with LSU taking on Texas Tech in the second game of the doubleheader.

The 2006 Wooden Award ceremony, which will include the presentation of the Men¹s and Women¹s Wooden Award, the Wooden Award All-American Teams and the Legends of Coaching Award, will be held at The Los Angeles Athletic Club on April 8, 2006, and will be broadcast live on a national CBS telecast. The top five male and female finalists will be invited to Los Angeles for the Awards ceremony and will receive a contribution from the John R. Wooden Award Scholarship Fund in their name to their university¹s general scholarship fund.

The Wooden Award Scholarship Fund was established in 2002 by Applied Materials and corporate partners through the California Community Foundation (CCF) to honor Coach Wooden¹s dedication as an educator and mentor. The Scholarship Fund distributed $10,000 last year to each university represented by a men’s and women’s Wooden Award All-American Team finalist (for a total of $’00,000). Additional donations to Applied Materials’ John Wooden Scholarship Fund can be made by contacting the scholarship fund through the CCF(www.calfund.org).

We extend our sympathies to the LSU family on the news of the death of Hall of Fame coach Sue Gunter.

“Personally, I feel like I lost my best friend. Basketball lost one of its heroes. She is legendary. The things that she has done and the way she did them are just remarkable.”
- Andy Landers, Georgia head coach

As if leading the Detroit Shock in scoring during an MVP-like season weren’t enough, former Lady Dog Deanna Nolan is tops off the court as well. “Tweety” was named the recipient of the WNBA Community Assist Award for the month of June.

The WNBA Community Assist Award is given out monthly by the league to recognize players for their charitable efforts. Each month WNBA teams can nominate a player for the award, which honors the player who best reflects the league’s passion for making a difference in their communities. As a result of her efforts, the WNBA will donate $5,000 in her name to the American Diabetes Association.

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