55-41, Georgia. A very solid, workmanlike effort from the Lady Bulldogs tonight. Which is fine. No need to expend a lot of energy and emotion in a game like tonight’s when every ounce of those two traits (and more) will be needed for the Tennessee game this weekend. All Georgia needed to do tonight was punch in, take care of business, then punch out and head back home. Mission accomplished.

Angel led all Georgia scorers with 16 points. Megan scored 13 and Tasha, who never really got untracked, wound up with 11 points. Remember how I said Georgia would struggle if they shot less than 40% from the field? I should’ve added, "Unless…of course…Carolina shoots less than 30%," which is exactly how it went down tonight.

Next up: This Sunday night. Senior Day ceremonies. A packed house. ESPN. Tennessee.

Click here for the official recap of tonight’s game with a link to the box score.

The SEC Greats program, established in 2001, has quickly taken on "tradition" status as a much-anticipated highlight of the SEC Tournament weekend. The program honors noteworthy performers from each school with a halftime ceremony and a special SEC Greats autograph session. Past Georgia honorees have included the likes of Bernadette Locke Mattox, La’Keisha Frett, and…naturally…Katrina McClain and Teresa Edwards.

This year’s SEC Greats selection from the Lady Bulldogs is Lisa O’Connor. Lisa will be introduced alongside all the other SEC greats next weekend at the SEC Tournament in Nashville.

Here’s a brief biographical sketch of Lisa, courtesy of the official SEC website:

Lisa O’Connor, Georgia (Basketball, 1982-86)
Lisa O’Connor was a four-year starter for Georgia teams which finished as NCAA runner-up in 1985, advanced to the 1983 Final Four and captured the 1983, 1984 and 1986 SEC Championships. She was named to all-SEC Tournament teams in both 1983 and 1986. And, more than two decades after her playing career has ended, she is still prominent in Georgia record books. Among the Lady Bulldogs’ career leaders, O’Connor ranks No. 14 in scoring with 1,509 points and No. 11 in rebounding with 728 boards. She also is No. 4 in career starts and No. 5 in games played. During her career, Georgia collected 116 wins to just 17 losses.

Click here to read the entire SEC Greats press release, including the honorees from all other schools.

The Lady Bulldogs look to clinch a winning record in SEC play tonight as The Stretch Run rolls into Columbia. For South Carolina fans, the numbers are daunting. Georgia leads the overall series against Carolina, 26-4, including 11 wins in 13 games on the Gamecocks’ home floor. If momentum counts for anything, that advantage also falls to Georgia, having won three straight to move over .500 in league play. The Gamecocks, on the other hand, are losers of 9 of their last 12 games and reeling. Obviously, you can’t overlook anybody in the SEC…but if you’re looking to polish a postseason resume, you have to go out and take care of business against teams that are struggling. For that reason alone, tonight’s game is crucial for the Lady Bulldogs.

Looking at league statistics, you see that South Carolina doesn’t score very much or defend particularly well…but they absolutely get after the boards. Only Georgia and Auburn rebound the ball better in the SEC. As simple as it may sound, the most effective way to neutralize rebounding is to knock down shots. The Lady Bulldogs will struggle tonight if they revert to the sub-40% shooting of two weeks ago. If they execute patiently on offense, "D"-up, avoid foul trouble, and stay focused…a big challenge with Tennessee lurking this weekend…Georgia will come home riding a four-game winning streak.

Tonight’s game versus South Carolina tips off at 7:00 PM and will be televised live on Fox Sports Net. It can also be heard on your local Georgia Bulldog Radio Network station with Jeff and Mack calling the action.

Click here for the official South Carolina women’s basketball page.

Here’s a link to the South Carolina roster and individual player/coaching staff bios.

And their season-to-date statistics can be found by clicking here.

Only slight upward progress in the latest polls but it’s better than moving in the opposite direction, right? The Lady Bulldogs are ranked 22nd in this week’s AP poll…while the nation’s coaches voting in the ESPN/USA Today poll have Georgia pegged as a top-twenty pick. Number twenty, to be exact. Here’s your top four in both polls:  1. Connecticut  2. North Carolina  3. Tennessee  4. Rutgers.

Click here to see both the AP and ESPN USA Today coaches’ poll for this week.

So, who’s up for a "Chicken Run"? If you’re road-tripping it up to Columbia later on this week for the Lady Bulldogs and the Gamecocks, feel free to use the comments section below to coordinate your travel plans with fellow Fastbreakers. This is a pretty easy trip just up the highway…let’s support The Stretch Run toward the postseason and show everybody in South Cackalackie just exactly how the Lady Bulldog Nation rolls.

The Georgia/South Carolina game is set for a 7:00 tip-off this Thursday night…at the Colonial Center in scenic downtown Columbia.

This just in from the UGA Sports Communications Office:

ATHENS, GA. — Georgia’s Tasha Humphrey was tabbed SEC Player of the Week on Monday by the league office in Birmingham, a day after she posted game-high tallies of 22 points, 14 rebounds and four assists in the Lady Bulldogs’ win over Auburn.

Humphrey, a 6-3, senior from Gainesville, Ga., equaled her season-best totals for rebounds and assists in the victory, Georgia’s only game last week. She sealed the win with consecutive field goals at the 2:08 and 1:25 marks in the contest after Auburn had trimmed a 21-point lead with 9:07 remaining all the way down to six points.

During the contest, Humphrey moved past both Kelly Miller and Katrina McClain into the No. 2 position among Georgia’s career scoring leaders with 2,199 points. She also inched into the No. 8 spot among the Lady Dogs’ career leaders for games started with 116.

Humphrey has now posted double-doubles in each of the Lady Bulldogs’ last four games, averaging 21.3 points and 11.8 rebounds during that span. For the season, she leads Georgia in scoring and rebounding with averages of 17.7 ppg and 9.2 rpg. In SEC play, Humphrey is averaging 19.4 ppg.

Humphrey has now been named SEC Player of the Week eight times during her career, the most by any Georgia player and one shy of the league record shared by Sylvia Fowles of LSU, Candace Parker of Tennessee and Armintie Price of Ole Miss.

To read the entire press release announcing this honor for Tasha, just click on the link below:

Tasha Named SEC Player Of The Week (Georgiadogs.com)

(Photo courtesy of Georgia Sports Communications)

(Click on each cake to see a larger version. Trust me, it’s worth it!)

Now those are three good-looking cakes . Your Fastbreak Club wishes to thank all the Fastbreakers who showed up today to pay tribute to Megan Darrah, Tasha Humphrey, and Rebecca Rowsey, our outstanding trio of Lady Bulldog senior players. The annual Fastbreak Club Senior Day Ice Cream Social and reception turned out to be quite the bittersweet affair as all three ladies delivered heartfelt remarks about their time here at Georgia…and that was after all three said that they were saving the real emotional stuff for the year-end awards banquet! But leave it to Coach Landers, as always, to add the perfect punctuation point:  "As much as I’ll miss coaching them…that’s how much I’m looking forward to being friends with them."

Also, as always…a big thanks to the entire Lady Bulldog family for once again graciously allowing us to host a big Fastbreak Club event in the Richard B. Taylor hospitality room.

68-56, Lady Bulldogs. This was exactly the kind of game Georgia was finding ways to lose three weeks ago. This time, however, when the other guys started threatening to come back, Georgia brought the big foot down on their necks. Not today, Auburn. Not here. Today, the momentum-crushing shots were dropping to squelch Auburn runs. Today, the big stops were made. And…most importantly…today, Tasha Humphrey simply wasn’t going to lose. T-Hump had 22 points and 14 boards (yes, another double-double) but it was her emotional leadership that was on full display today at Stegeman Coliseum.

Time after time, Tasha took it to the hole, disappearing into a rugby scrum of Auburn defenders. Then, somehow…improbably, a shot would go up amid all those pawing and swatting arms. The whistle would sound…and Tasha would claw her way out of the dogpile, pumping her fists and screaming to the rafters. I feel sorry for you if you weren’t there or watching on the tube…because it was really something to see. It was like Jordan, Magic, or Bird back in the day. A superstar baller doing everything that needed to be done at the exact times they needed to happen.

And…oh, by the way…Tasha also became the second-leading career scorer in Lady Bulldogs history. Not a bad afternoon’s work.

The other half of Georgia’s Twin Towers, Angel Robinson, chipped in with her own double-double (14 points, 11 boards), while Christy and Ashley also ending up scoring in double figures (11 and 10, respectively).

The Stretch Run continues next Thursday night in Columbia, South Carolina.

Click here for the official game recap with a link to the box score.

Have you downloaded the latest edition of Fastbreaking News yet? If so, you read about the course Andy is charting in hopes of locking down an NCAA Tournament bid and, just as importantly, carrying some momentum into the postseason. It all starts tomorrow afternoon in Stegeman Coliseum against the Auburn Tigers. This, Fastbreakers, is the stretch run.

You would have to figure that if there’s any opponent left on the schedule for whom the Lady Bulldogs would be especially geeked up, it’s Auburn. The last time Georgia hooked up with the Tigers (in mid-January, on The Plains), they suffered a 30-point blowout…a performance that marked the beginning of a full-on tailspin, culminating in a stretch of five losses in seven games.

Auburn has gone into a bit of a funk of their own after their impressive performance against the Lady Bulldogs. Since then, the Tigers have won five games and lost four. As for the potential impact of this game on SEC Tournament seedings…well, let’s just all follow Andy’s lead and only worry about what the Lady Bulldogs can control themselves. Right now, all they can control is taking care of business with Auburn and maybe getting a measure of payback in the process.

"Auburn vs. Georgia: The Rematch" tips off at 2:30 tomorrow afternoon at the Coliseum. Our friends from CSS will be back in town televising the game to a regional audience and the game can also be heard on your local Georgia Bulldog Radio Network station. After the game, we’ll see you upstairs in the Richard B. Taylor hospitality room (located in the Coliseum Practice Facility) for the Fastbreak Club Senior Day Ice Cream Social and reception. Hopefully, the ice cream will be just as sweet as the revenge Georgia gets from Auburn earlier in the afternoon.

Click here for the official Auburn University women’s basketball page.

Here’s a link to the Auburn roster and individual player and coaching staff bios.

And their season-to-date statistics can be found by clicking here.

Fastbreaker Nicki Courtney has started her own Lady Bulldogs fansite and message board at www.ladydawgsfansite.com. She was kind enough to provide a link to the official Fastbreak Club weblog on her site’s front page…and we’re happy to return the favor with a shout-out here. Check out Nicki’s site when you get a chance and sign up for the message board. Other SEC programs are all over the ‘Net and have been for years…so it’s very encouraging to see the Lady Bulldog Nation expanding its presence online.

Click here to visit www.ladydawgsfansite.com.