Lady Bulldogs Angel Robinson, Ashley Houts, and Angela Puleo are pictured in the special Commemorative Inaugural Edition of Newsweek, available on newsstands now. The photo (seen above, click on it for a larger version) is from a Portfolio feature entitled “Echoes on the Highway to Freedom” and can be found on pages 98-99. Congratulations to Angel, Ashley, and Angela for being included in an issue of Newsweek that is certain to become a historic collector’s item.

There’s always one thing you can count on whenever Georgia and Mississippi State tangle…it’s going to be a dogfight. As in, yes…both teams call themselves “Lady Bulldogs” and as in…well, it’s just never easy against the “other” Lady Bulldogs. There was the squeaker in Starkville on Super Bowl Sunday several years ago. Who can forget (as much as we’d like to) LaToya Thomas going to the free throw line with no time left on the clock in Stegeman Coliseum? Something out of the ordinary seems to almost always go down whenever the Lady Bulldogs take on the Lady Bulldogs. State comes in with a record of 16-5 (3-3 in SEC play). They fought Tennessee tooth and nail to the last minutes of a 7-point loss and they’ve won a 38-36 slobberknocker with LSU in Baton Rouge. They’ll be ready to play tomorrow afternoon. As for the Lady Bulldogs, it’s this simple: Let’s keep this thing rolling. The conventional wisdom says that Georgia is riding a big wave of momentum. Well, momentum don’t mean a thing if you don’t knock down shots, grab boards,  and make stops. If the Lady Dawgs come out with the poise and patience they demonstrated against Auburn Thursday night, we’ll all go home to our Super Bowl parties happy.

Game time for Georgia and Mississippi State is 2:30 tomorrow afternoon at Stegeman Coliseum. The annual elementary school attendance challenge will also be taking place…so bring the young’uns and tell them to make some racket. If you can’t be with us, the game can be found on your local Georgia Bulldog Radio Network affiliate station. Like always, we’ll have a game recap and exclusive photos posted right here sometime tomorrow evening.

Click here for the official Georgia/Mississippi State game notes.

Here’s a link to the Mississippi State women’s basketball page.

Click here to see the complete (other) Lady Bulldog roster.

Two fondly remembered and much-missed former Lady Bulldog teammates, Christi Thomas (pictured, left) and Kelly Miller (right), were reunited in the WNBA this week via trades. Christi was traded from the L.A. Sparks to the Minnesota Lynx in return for former Florida Lady Gator Vanessa Hayden-Johnson. Kelly, a native of Rochester, Minnesota, will come home as part of a deal sending the former All-Everything Georgia guard and LaToya Pringle from the Phoenix Mercury to the Lynx in exchange for Nicole Ohide.

While swapping the sun and glamour of Los Angeles for the somewhat chillier climes of Minnesota will be an adjustment, Christi has been letting everyone know (via her Facebook page) that she’s excited and happy about the deal. As for Kelly, she’ll bring her trademark hustle and determination (not to mention a 2007 WNBA championship ring) to a young, talented Lynx backcourt that already includes former Stanford star Candice Wiggins.

Best of luck to Christi and Kelly…we’ll see you in Atlanta this Summer!

Click here to read more about the Christi Thomas trade.

Click here to read more about the Kelly Miller trade.

You had to love this quote from Auburn coach Nell Fortner after last night’s game:

“This is a tough place for us to play, this staff has never won here. When the crowd gets into it, it creates a tough atmosphere.”

Great job, everybody…now let’s do it again this Sunday afternoon!

Georgia – 67, Auburn – 58. I’m going to type that again: Georgia – 67, Auburn – 58. This was glorious. An instant classic. This will be known years from now as “That Auburn game back in ‘09.” The poise and composure we saw tonight from the Lady Bulldogs was the key to withstanding an early Auburn run that saw the Lady Tigers running up a double-digit lead just minutes into the game. But Georgia didn’t panic. Not for one moment did they look outmatched, outclassed, or intimidated. There was a sense of determination…you might even say a little bit of swagger…that will hold the Lady Bulldogs in good stead as they move into the meat of their conference schedule. Too many heroes to name in this one, but a special shout-out has to go to Angel. She had three momentum-shifting baskets: A deuce at the halftime buzzer to get the Lady Bulldogs within one at intermission, a three-pointer early in the second half, and a just-flat-out-ridiculous layup late in the game that looked like it was bound for the Stegeman Coliseum rafters when she tossed it up. When it finally did come down, it got nothing but net. If you taped or TiVOed this game tonight while you were there in person, enjoy watching it again. It’s as good a game that has been played at Stegeman over the last decade.

Not much time to celebrate, though. An always-tough Mississippi State team will be in town this weekend. The Georgia/Mississippi State game is set for Sunday afternoon at the Coliseum and we’ll have a preview and game links posted right here on your official Fastbreak Club blog sometime on Saturday.

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

But at least this time she has a significant height advantage. Former Lady Bulldog sharpshooter Mary Beth Lycett (Smart) showed off her one-year-old twins, Julia and Weston, for Coach Landers this past weekend in Tuscaloosa. Mary Beth is married to former Georgia football star Kirby Smart, now a member of Nick Saban’s coaching staff at Alabama. You may need to adjust the cuteness settings on your monitor for these pictures, Fastbreakers.

(These pics are courtesy of Fastbreaker Brenda Rawson. Thanks, Brenda!)

Here we go again. In a season that already feels like it’s been full of them, tomorrow night finds the Lady Bulldogs facing yet another “Moment of Truth” game when a high-flying, 20-games-straight-winning, fifth-ranked Auburn team comes to call at Stegeman Coliseum. Nell Fortner’s undefeated Lady Tigers are, naturally, unbeaten in SEC play (5-0) and coming off a 14-point smackdown of Tennessee before the biggest crowd to ever see a women’s basketball game on The Plains. It would be awesome to have a big crowd of our own at the Coliseum for the CSS cameras and to be that crucial “Sixth Man” for the Lady Bulldogs (or would it be “Sixth Lady”? “Sixth Person”? Anyway…). The crowd for last Thursday’s game with Vanderbilt wasn’t all that big, but they were electric…and they had the house rockin’ when it needed to rock. Let’s do that again. Except twice as big and twice as loud. It’s gonna be fun.

Georgia and Auburn lock up at 7:00 tomorrow night at the Coliseum. CSS will have the game on regional cable while Jeff and Mack will be holding down the radio end on your local Georgia Bulldog Radio Network affiliate station. We’ll have a recap and exclusive game photos right here on your Fastbreak Club blog late tomorrow night.

Click here for the official Georgia/Auburn game notes.

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

Click here to see the complete Lady Tiger roster.

Georgia – 63, Alabama – 61. A very wise man once said, “Nothing is easy in this league…Especially on the road.” Somebody ought to get that guy a blog or something. Man, did that game just about tear your nerves up or what? Every time it seemed like the Lady Bulldogs had their foot on the Tide’s necks, Alabama would finagle their way back into the game. And that 16-2 ‘Bama run in the last couple of minutes to tie the game with less than 30 seconds remaining? Teams that catch fire like that usually find a way to close the deal. As it turned out, though, Georgia saved its finest offensive possession for when the game was on the line. The set play Andy wanted to run broke down…but the the Lady Dawgs didn’t panic, working the ball around and eventually finding Porsha for what turned out to be the winning basket. Porsha matched her uniform number (and age, for that matter) with 21 points, leading the Lady Bulldogs in scoring and continuing to show signs of potentially being ready to break out as a go-to offensive threat.

Next up: Auburn, a team that dropped 82 points on Tennessee today en route to a 14-point romp over the Lady Vols. Sounds fun…bring it on. We’ll have a preview of the Georgia/Auburn game posted here sometime during the day on Wednesday.

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

It was announced earlier this week that Coach Landers has dismissed sophomore forward Jasmine Lee (pictured) from the Lady Bulldog basketball program. The Fastbreak Club blog wishes Jasmine well in all of her future endeavors.

Get this straight: Nothing is easy in this league. There are no “gimme” games in SEC play. Especially on the road. That said, the Tide is reeling. They are 0-5 in conference play so far this season…including three blowout losses by 20-plus points. The opportunity for Georgia to sustain or even build upon the momentum from Thursday’s big win over Vandy is there. With Auburn coming to Athens next week, the Lady Bulldogs will need all the positive energy and good mojo they can get their hands on. Taking care of business in Tuscaloosa tomorrow afternoon would set the stage for a classic showdown with the Lady Tigers next Thursday night. A showdown with big-time SEC ramifications.

But…first things first. Georgia and Alabama tip off at 3:00 PM (Eastern) tomorrow afternoon. No TV for this game but, as always, your local Georgia Bulldog Radio Network affiliate station will have all the action. We’ll have a Georgia/Alabama recap posted here, along with game links, shortly after the final buzzer.

Click here for the official Georgia/Alabama game notes.

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

Click here to see the complete Crimson Tide roster.