It’s no rest for the weary (and that includes us fans!) as the Lady Bulldogs, playing in what will be their fourth game in the last six days, welcome the Buccaneers of East Tennessee State to Stegeman Coliseum tomorrow night. The Bucs sport a record of 2-3…but they’ve given state rivals Chattanooga and Vanderbilt all they could handle in early-season competition, losing to ‘Nooga by only six points and hanging close with Vandy well into the game’s final minutes. The ETSU program is on the upswing, coming off last season’s Atlantic Sun Conference tournament championship and their first-ever invitation to the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament. Georgia and East Tennessee State will tip it off at 7:00 PM tomorrow night…come on out, make some noise, and cheer on our Lady Dawgs as they make the Bucs walk the plank.

Here’s a link to ETSU’s women’s basketball page.

Click here to see the complete Buccaneer roster.

Anyone who’s spent time in Las Vegas will tell you that the keys to a successful trip are:  1. Only staying a couple of days. 2. Leaving while you’re ahead. Our Lady Bulldogs worked Vegas like a charm this weekend, blowing in for couple of nights and leaving as Lady Rebel Round-Up tournament champions. Georgia defeated the Eagles of Eastern Washington by 24 points (75-51) this afternoon to claim the tourney title. Ashley once again led all scorers, this time with 22 points. Christy was the only other Lady Dawg to put up double figures, scoring 11. Georgia out-rebounded the Eagles by 10, contributing mightily to the Lady Bulldogs’ 40-22 advantage in points scored down low. Coach Landers: “Defensively, we did what we needed to do. We made it difficult for them to catch the ball and get into their offenses and that paid off.”

Ashley, on the strength of her stellar two-game performance, was voted the tourney MVP.

Georgia will fly home late tonight and host East Tennessee State at Stegeman Coliseum on Monday night. That game tips off at 7:00 PM. We’ll have a preview of the East Tennessee State game posted here sometime tomorrow (Sunday) afternoon.

Click here for the official recap and a link to the stats and box score.

Just like The King and Ann-Margret, our Lady Dawgs are riding a hot streak and showing off some fancy moves in Vegas. In Lady Rebel Round-Up tournament action this afternoon/evening, Georgia rolled up on Cal State Fullerton by a final tally of 85-64 while Eastern Washington needed overtime to knock off UNLV, the tournament’s host team, by a single point (70-69). That means the Lady Bulldogs (4-1) will square off with the Eagles of Eastern Washington (2-2) tomorrow at 5:00 PM (Eastern) for the tournament championship.

Ashley led all Georgia scorers with 20 points and Christy scored 18 for a new UGA career high. In what is becoming a delightful regular occurrence so far in this young season, Angel (17 points, 10 rebounds) and Porsha (12 points, 11 boards) both went double-double again. In fact, the Lady Bulldogs out-rebounded the Titans, 52-28. In his post-game radio show remarks, Coach Landers praised the team’s consistency and poise: “I thought the effort was better and much more consistent. We rebounded the basketball in a dominant fashion and that was very impressive to me. In the second half, we made plays when we had to.”

LADY REBEL ROUND-UP: GEORGIA LADY BULLDOGS VS. EASTERN WASHINGTON EAGLES

Date/Time: Saturday, November 29, 2008, 5:00 PM (Eastern)

Location: Cox Pavilion, Las Vegas, Nevada

Click here for the GA/Fullerton game recap and a link to the stats and box score.

Here’s a link to Eastern Washington’s women’s basketball page.

Click here to see the complete Eagle roster.

If you’re driving from mall to mall today in search of Black Friday deals, be sure to fire up the Lady Bulldogs on the radio this afternoon and make it a Red-and-Black Friday. The Lady Dawgs are in Las Vegas to take on the Titans of Cal State Fullerton in Lady Rebel Round-Up tournament opening day action. UNLV, the tournament’s host team, faces Eastern Washington in the second game of today’s double-dip…with the winners of those two games meeting tomorrow for the championship. The Georgia vs. Cal State Fullerton game is set for a 4:00 PM (Eastern) tip-off and can be heard on the Georgia Bulldog Radio Network. We’ll have a game recap, stats, and (if all goes well), a preview of a potential tournament championship game right here on your official Fastbreak Club weblog sometime tonight.

Click here for a preview of UGA vs. Fullerton and a link to the official game notes.

Here’s a link to Cal State Fullerton’s women’s basketball page.

Click here to see the complete Titan roster.

Georgia – 85, NC Central – 31. Blowout. The turkey bowling at halftime was the most interesting thing about this game after the first ten minutes or so. The Lady Bulldogs came out of the gate roaring and never looked back. It was a turkey-themed night and Georgia simply beat the stuffing out of the Eagles. Five Lady Dawgs scored in double-figures (Ashley with 17, Angela and Angel with 13, Christy with 11, and Porsha scored 10) and walk-on Sarah Stoddard drilled another three-pointer. Ali Watt, another walk-on, also saw action and knocked down a jumper. Hopefully, this game helped wash the taste of the Detroit game out of everyone’s mouths just in time for Thanksgiving.

Oh…and it turned out that “Hamby, The Honey Baked Ham” was, in fact, “Hambee, The Honey Baked Ham Bee.” It was a bee with a pig’s snout. Very unsettling…

Now it’s holiday tournament time for the Lady Dawgs as they jet out to Las Vegas for the Lady Rebel Round-Up (hosted by UNLV). Georgia will face Cal State Fullerton at 4:00 PM (Eastern) on Friday. That game will be followed by Eastern Washington taking on UNLV. The winners of those two games will meet on Saturday for the tournament championship. Georgia’s Lady Rebel Round-Up games can be heard live on your local Georgia Bulldog Radio Network affiliate.

Click here for the official recap and a link to the stats and box score.

The Eagles (pictured) are coming to Stegeman Coliseum!

Ha, ha. No, not those Eagles. The Eagles of North Carolina Central. Just when you thought your official Fastbreak Club weblog had gotten all of the Eagles stuff out of its system after last season’s Georgia Southern game…Look for the Lady Bulldogs to bounce back in a big way after this past weekend’s loss at Detroit Mercy. It should be a festive atmosphere at Stegeman tomorrow night. It’s the night before Thanksgiving and the Coliseum is going to be chockablock with turkeys. Turkeys, both deliciously real and stuffed toy ones, will be raffled off. Lucky fans will be chosen to try their hand at turkey bowling. (If you’ve never seen turkey bowling, click here.) All of this, plus a chance to be photographed with “Hamby, The Honey Baked Ham” and…oh, by the way….an actual basketball game! It all goes down tomorrow night at 7:00 PM. See you at Stegeman.

Make sure to log on to your official Fastbreak Club weblog late tomorrow night for a game recap and exclusive Georgia vs. North Carolina Central photos.

Here’s a link to North Carolina Central’s women’s basketball page.

Click here to see the complete Eagle roster.

“Mercy, mercy me.” – Marvin Gaye

70-66, Titans. As it turns out, it looks like the Lady Bulldogs are the ones who will remember the Titans. It was one of those most frustrating of games in which Georgia kept coming back and whittling their deficit down to a single digit or a tie…but they just couldn’t make the big push to distance themselves from an apparently fired-up  and upset-minded Detroit Mercy squad. Ashley led the Lady Dawgs with 17 points…while Angel (14 points, 11 rebounds) and Porsha (12 points and 10 boards) both went double-double in the losing effort.

Just gotta put this one in the rear view mirror and get better. The Lady Bulldogs’ next chance to do exactly that is next Wednesday night against North Carolina Central at Stegeman. Tip-off is set for 7:00 PM.

Click here for the official recap and a link to the stats and box score.

Remember Remember The Titans (pictured)? Pretty good flick. After tomorrow, Georgia fans hope that the Titans never forget the Lady Bulldogs. The Lady Dawgs wrap up their two-day whistle-stop tour of Michigan tomorrow afternoon with a Motown showdown against the Titans of Detroit Mercy. It’s a tale of two teams going in different directions as Georgia comes to town undefeated while Detroit is 0-2 and coming off a 37-point loss at the hands of intrastate rival Michigan State. As we all well know, however, nothing comes easy on the road and you can rest assured that the Lady Dawgs won’t overlook tomorrow’s appetizer before heading home for turkey next week. The tip-off for Georgia and Detroit Mercy is set for 2:30 PM and the game can be heard on your local Georgia Bulldog Network radio affiliate.

Click here for a preview of UGA vs. Detroit and a link to the .PDF file of the official game notes.

Here’s a link to Detroit’s women’s basketball page.

Click here to see the complete Titan roster.

64-61, Lady Bulldogs. Due to a confluence of events, your official Fastbreak Club blogger didn’t have a chance to do a preview of tonight’s game with Oakland…or to even listen to the game itself, for that matter. So, tonight we’ll be handing over recap duties to….(drumroll)…the hardest-working Sports Information Director in the NCAA, Mike Mobley. Here’s his recap, courtesy of Georgia Sports Communications:

Rochester, Mich. — Angela Puleo scored a career-high 22 points, including Georgia’s last four, to lead the Georgia Lady Bulldogs (2-0) to a 64-61 victory over Oakland (2-1) on Thursday night.

Porsha Phillips and Angel Robinson added 12 points apiece for Georgia.

Puleo was hot early and late. She scored 18 first-half points to equal her career high but didn’t score again until there was just over a minute remaining. A baseline jumper at the 1:03 mark put Georgia up 62-60 and two free throws with 2.4 seconds left iced the victory.

“I thought Angela did a great job to shoot us out to the 10-point lead and then stepped up and hit a big jumper from the baseline when it got tight and two free throws at the end to secure at least overtime,” head coach Andy Landers said.

Puleo calmly sank both ends of a one-and-one before Oakland’s desperation three didn’t come within 20 feet of the basket.

The Lady Bulldogs owned a comfortable lead for most of the evening and then held off the Golden Grizzlies following a 10-0 run. Georgia led 58-48 after a layup by Jasmine Lee with 6:41 left before Oakland scored 10 unanswered and tied the game on a steal and layin by by April Kidd knotted the score with 2:42 remaining.

Christy Marshall finally ended the skid with a short jumper and the teams traded buckets before the Puleo jumper made it 62-60. Kidd then missed one of two free throws with 50.2 left. Both teams missed shots before Puleo was fouled while the Lady Bulldogs were attempting to dribble out the clock.

The Lady Bulldogs started quickly and opened up an 11-2 lead before Oakland answered to pull within one at 15-14 with 10:54 remaining in the half. Puleo then knocked down a trio of threes in just a span of 2:55. That, mixed with a Lee layup, pushed the margin to 26-16 at the 8:08 mark.

Puleo equaled her career-high with that three, matching the 18 points she scored against Florida last season in Athens.

The Lady Bulldogs will complete their two-game road trip to the Motor City with a Saturday afternoon matchup versus the Detroit Titans. Tip-off is slated for 2:30 PM, with the game to be broadcast on the Georgia Bulldog Radio Network including 960 AM The Ref in Athens.

We’ll have a preview of the Detroit game up by tomorrow (Friday) night.

If you still haven’t ordered your official 2008-09 Fastbreak Club t-shirt (click here to see this year’s shirt and sizing details), you have until December 19 to get your order in the mail. T-shirts ordered by December 19 will available for pickup at the home game versus South Carolina on January 11, 2009. If not enough orders are placed to justify this printing, your check will be returned.

Click here for a printable .PDF file of the Fastbreak Club t-shirt order form.