Xavier – 56, Georgia – 44. Much to the delight of the Lady Bulldog faithful in attendance, this one was shaping up as an instant replay of the Clemson game at Gwinnett Arena last week. Georgia falls behind early, whittles the lead down to scrapple by the half, and comes out like a house afire in the second half…eventually taking the lead and seemingly having all the momentum. What followed was a most unpleasant instant replay: Yet another long stretch without points. Eight minutes without a score tonight after making a heroic run to take the lead. The Lady Dawgs also allowed Xavier to roam a little too freely in the paint, resulting in a ten-rebound advantage for the Musketeers.

Danielle Taylor, who jump-started the Georgia offense in the first half by checking in off the bench and hitting her first three shots, wound up leading the Lady Bulldogs with 12 points. Ultimately, though, it was just a case of too much Ta’Shia Phillips…she was a Georgia-killer for a second straight year, leading the Musketeers with 23 points and 16 boards in one of the best all-around performances from an opposing player yet this season.

The Lady Dawgs will attempt to bounce back this Friday night when they travel to Charlottesville to take on Virginia in a game that will be televised nationally on ESPNU. We’ll have a preview of the Georgia/Virginia game posted here sometime during the day on Thursday. In the meantime…so long, 2008! Here’s wishing all Fastbreakers a peaceful and prosperous New Year.

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

You have to figure this one’s been circled on a calendar somewhere in the Lady Bulldogs’ locker room. It was just about a year ago that a 13-0 Georgia team traveled to Xavier and was promptly lit up by the Musketeers and handed their first loss of the season. The Lady Dawgs will look for some payback tomorrow night at Stegeman Coliseum as they hook it up with Xavier for the last game they’ll play in 2008. And while Georgia fans may hate Gators, they obviously have a soft spot in their hearts for Crocs…in a promotion being called…(ahem)…Croc ‘N New Year, the first 500 fans in attendance will receive a beautiful pair of Georgia Crocs. You can also swing by The Varsity and pick up coupons for $1 game admission. We’re talking one skinny buck for an evening of Lady Bulldogs basketball and a brand new pair of Crocs. Where else are you going to find that kind of value for your entertainment dollar? Literally…your one dollar.

The Lady Bulldogs and Musketeers will tip things off at 7:00 PM tomorrow night at the Coliseum. If dangling those Crocs in your face still isn’t enough to put you in a seat at Stegeman, be sure to catch Jeff and Mack’s call of the game on your local Georgia Bulldog Radio Network affiliate station. As always, we’ll have a recap of the game and exclusive photos posted here at your Fastbreak Club blog shortly after the final buzzer.

Click here for the official Georgia/Xavier game notes.

Here’s a link to the Xavier women’s basketball page.

Click here to see the complete Musketeer roster.

Some familiar-looking little elves are here to help us spread some Fastbreaking cheer!

Click here (or just click on the picture above) to check out all the fancy footwork!

Be safe, be well, and hug lots of necks. Merry Christmas, Fastbreakers!

Georgia – 67, Clemson – 50. You just had a feeling when Angela drained that three at the halftime buzzer….then having Porsha and Christy score the first four points of the second half, tying the game after each had a poor shooting first half…like I said, you just had a feeling that business was about to pick up. Pick up it did as the Lady Bulldogs rattled off a 14-2 run in the opening minutes of the second half (on the way to outscoring Clemson by 21 in the half) and never really looked back the rest of the way.

Georgia was led by a quartet of scorers in double-figures (15 for Porsha, 13 for Christy, 12 for Angela, and 11 for Ashley) and they also prevailed on the boards, out-rebounding Clemson by a half-dozen. The Lady Bulldogs improved to 9-2 on the season and they upped their impressive Gwinnett Arena record to 5-1. Now it’s long layoff time once more as Georgia won’t take to the floor again until December 30 versus Xavier at Stegeman Coliseum.

Your humble Fastbreak Club blogger’s seats for this game at The Arena were more than 20 rows farther back than his usual swanky courtside digs at Stegeman. So, for this posting anyway, enjoy the view from up in the cheap seats:

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

Aside from the horrendous traffic, it’s always a blast to go play at The Arena at Gwinnett Center (pictured). Just a beautiful, spotless building with a friendly, helpful staff…and there’s not a bad seat in the joint. Despite the fact that the Arena holds over 12,000 people, there’s no real upper-deck or mezzanine section. With the single level of seating around the “bowl,” The Arena feels up-close and intimate…almost like a high school gym. It’s a great place to watch a game.

The Lady Bulldogs, sporting a 4-1 record at The Arena, apparently think it’s also a pretty great place in which to play. They’ll be facing an 8-2 Clemson team that’s currently riding a six-game winning streak. They’ll also be bringing along an assistant coach who just happens to be arguably the most electrifying player in Lady Bulldog history, Saudia Roundtree. It’s going to be the can’t-miss pre-Christmas party of the season…

Georgia and Clemson will tip things off at 7:30 PM tomorrow at The Arena at Gwinnett Center. If you can’t make it to the game (and please come if you can, this one’s gonna be fun), Jeff and Mack will be calling the action live on your local Georgia Bulldog Radio Network affiliate. Your humble official Fastbreak Club blogger will need a couple of hours to make it back to homebase after the game…so our recap and exclusive photos will be posted a little later than usual.

See you at The Arena!

Click here for the official Georgia/Clemson game notes.

Here’s a link to the Clemson women’s basketball page.

Click here to see the complete Lady Tiger roster.

#3 Stanford at #11 Tennessee (7:00 PM, ESPN2)

An outstanding early-season matchup and a chance to do a little scouting.

Georgia – 73, UAB – 49. Another double-double for Angel (11 points, 12 boards), season-high points for Danielle (14), a great all-around night for Ashley (12 points, 9 assists, 4 steals), and double figures scoring from Angela (11 points, including draining 3-of-5 three-pointers)…all in all, not a bad way to bounce back after a couple of forgettable performances against Tech and Rutgers and a long period of inactivity. Nice to see that team shooting percentage back up over 50% as the Lady Bulldogs shot 51.7% from the field tonight against the Blazers. Just a good all-around effort…one that Coach Landers is calling one of the most consistent performances of the season thus far from the Lady Dawgs:  “We were consistent from beginning to end. There are certainly some things that we could do better, but we improved on some things we’ve focused on. We eliminated some turnovers, and we rebounded the ball very well. We executed pretty well on both ends of the floor from beginning to end.”

Next up for Georgia, Clemson at The Arena at Gwinnett Center on Monday night.

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

Just five days before Christmas…nothing like trying on a few Blazers for size, right? What? Not those kind of Blazers? Oh, okay…Georgia will look to shake off a little rust after a long layoff for final exams when they take to the floor with UAB tonight in Birmingham. The Blazers of UAB are 4-6 and no strangers to SEC competition. They’ve already played Auburn and Florida this season, losing to both (an Auburn rout and a two-point heartbreaker with Florida). If you can’t make it out to Birmingham to watch the Lady Dawgs wear out the Blazers and hang ‘em back up on the rack, the Georgia Bulldog Radio Network will have all the action starting at 7:00 PM (Eastern). We’ll have a recap of the Georgia/UAB game up shortly after the final buzzer and a preview of Monday’s night’s big Georgia/Clemson showdown at the Gwinnett Center Arena sometime tomorrow (Sunday) afternoon.

Click here for the official Georgia/UAB game notes.

Here’s a link to the UAB women’s basketball page.

Click here to see the complete Blazer roster.

The Fastbreak Club had the honor today of working side-by-side with the Lady Bulldogs to assemble bikes that will be delivered in time to brighten the holiday season for some local needy children and families of our troops overseas. The festivities tipped off with a pot luck lunch in the Georgia Room (located in the Coliseum Practice Facility) before heading over to the concourse of Stegeman Coliseum to assemble the bikes. Everyone involved had a terrific time taking part in an event that Coach Landers has said he hopes will become a Fastbreak Club annual holiday tradition.

Your Fastbreak Club wishes to thank all the Fastbreakers who attended, the Lady Bulldog basketball family for their hospitality, and Academy Sports for donating the bikes and assembly tools. There are 32 photos from today’s event posted in four galleries. Just scroll down the page a little to find Gallery #1 and work your way back up. To see a larger version of any individual photo, just click on it.