Georgia is still on the rise…barely. The Lady Bulldogs moved up a notch (from #14 to #13) in this week’s Associated Press poll. Still no movement at the top…but there is certainly an eye-catching addition near the bottom of the Top 25: This Sunday’s opponent, Georgia Tech, checks in at # 23 this week. We’ll see what the nation’s coaches think tomorrow when the latest ESPN/USA Today poll is released. It’ll be posted right here as soon as it’s available. For now, here’s the AP top five and Georgia’s ranking:

1. Connecticut

2. Stanford

3. Ohio State

4. North Carolina

5. Notre Dame

13. GEORGIA

Click here to see the entire AP Top 25.

This just in from the UGA Sports Communications Office:

ATHENS, GA. — For the second time in three weeks, Georgia’s Jasmine James (pictured) has been named the SEC Freshman of the Week for women’s basketball. The league office in Birmingham, AL, announced the honor on Monday.

Last week, James averaged 19.7 points, 5.0 rebounds and 5.0 assists while leading Georgia in scoring in wins over Alabama State, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and Southern Miss. The Memphis native also posted stellar shooting percentages of 51.4 percent from the field and 89.5 percent from the line and dished out 15 assists to just three turnovers during those contests.

Against Alabama State, James scored 17 points and grabbed a game-high six rebounds. She popped for 18 points and collected a game-high three steals versus Texas A&M Corpus Christi. James poured in 24 points and dished out a game- and career-high six assists against Southern Miss in the championship game of USM’s Lady Eagle Thanksgiving Classic.

On the season, James is averaging 17.5 points per game, and she has led the Lady Bulldogs offensively in five of six contests.

James also was tabbed as SEC Freshman of the Week on Nov. 16, a day after scoring a team-high 15 points in Georgia’s 62-51 upset of No. 13 Oklahoma in her collegiate debut.

The Lady Dawgs will attempt to extend their season-opening undefeated streak to seven games tomorrow night as the Blazers of UAB (The University of Alabama at Birmingham) visit Stegeman Coliseum. While the months of November and December usually feature plenty of down time during a typical season, the UAB game tomorrow night will be the fourth game in the space of seven days for the Lady Bulldogs. Considering what a roll this young “work-in-progress” team is on right now (an overall record of 6-0 and having blown out their last three opponents by an average of 20-plus points a game), don’t look for fatigue or weariness to be any kind of a factor for Georgia. Momentum, something the Lady Dawgs have plenty of right now, has a way of putting a spring in your step.

Georgia and UAB will take the floor at 7:00 PM tomorrow night at the Coliseum. We’ll have a recap of the game, web links, and exclusive photos posted right here shortly after the final buzzer. See you there!

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 entire Blazer roster.

Georgia – 84, Southern Mississippi – 55. Southern Miss learned a valuable lesson tonight: Be careful who you invite into your house. This one was never really close as Georgia went on door-slamming runs whenever the Golden Eagles even remotely threatened to make a game of it. Leading the way for the Lady Dawgs, once again, was the sensational backcourt combination of J.J. (24 points) and tournament MVP Ashley (17 points and 6 steals). Anne Marie (who, as we learned during tonight’s radio broadcast, is referred to by her coach as “Annie Mae”) continued her run of stellar play with 14 points and Porsha (10 points) rounded out a quartet of double-digit scorers for Georgia.

The dominant back-to-back performances by J.J. and Ash this weekend landed both Georgia guards on the Lady Eagle Thanksgiving Classic All-Tournament Team (with, as mentioned earlier, Ash being named the tournament’s overall Most Valuable Player). With no more games to be played before the national polls are released early next week, it’ll be interesting to see what kind of “bump” (if any) in the rankings Georgia earns after a week with three blowout victories.

The Lady Dawgs will be back in action this Tuesday night against UAB at the Coliseum. We’ll have a preview of UGA/UAB and game links posted here sometime during the day on Monday.

Click here for the official UGA/Southern Miss recap and a link to the stats and box score.

Georgia – 77, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi – 58. Unfortunately, your humble Fastbreak Club blogger was a little distracted tonight between listening to two games, watching a third one on TV, and putting up a Christmas tree…so I don’t have much to add in the way of commentary. A big night for Porsha as she went double-double (14 points and 15 rebounds). J.J. led the team in scoring again, this time with 18 points, and Ashley wound up scoring 15. To get the proper inside scoop on tonight’s game, just click on the link below for the official recap.

Click here for the official UGA/Texas A&M-CC recap and a link to the stats and box score.

Georgia now moves on to the Lady Eagle Thanksgiving Classic championship game tomorrow evening. That game, versus tournament host team Southern Mississippi, will tip off sometime around 5:30 PM (Eastern), depending on the length of the consolation  game. The Georgia Bulldog Radio Network stations will probably be knee-deep in Georgia/Georgia Tech football pre-game programming at that time…so the Lady Dawgs game will most likely be shifted over to an alternate station. As soon as that info is released by the basketball office, we’ll post it right here so you’ll know where to tune in for the Lady Bulldogs and Southern Miss. 

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

Click here to see the entire Golden Eagle roster.

Let’s get right to this: The Islanders of Texas A&M-Corpus Christi are to be taken quite seriously. This team is nobody’s cupcake. The Isles are undefeated this season and they’ve knocked off one SEC team already (Alabama, in OT, a couple of weeks ago). If our Lady Bulldogs have their sights set on playing Saturday night in the Lady Eagle Thanksgiving Classic championship game, then they’d better be ready to take care of some risky business on Friday night with the Islanders. Coach Landers, during the Alabama State post-game show, downplayed Angel’s chances of playing this weekend…so the Lady Dawgs will be taking on an upset-minded opponent without one of their big guns down low. It will be crucial for Georgia’s bomb squad of three-point shooters to extend the Islander defense and take some heat off of the rookies down in the paint.

The Lady Eagle Thanksgiving Classic is hosted by Southern Mississippi and the tournament games will be played on campus at the Reed Green Coliseum (Hattiesburg, MS). No TV for Georgia/Texas A&M-CC, unfortunately. Strictly road trip or radio (your local Georgia Bulldog Radio Network affiliate). The tip-off is set for 8:00 PM Eastern this Friday night. If the Lady Bulldogs win, they’ll face either Southern Mississippi or Jackson State in the tournament championship game on Saturday. If that winning scenario plays out, we’ll have a championship game preview posted here sometime Saturday morning.

Click here for the official Georgia/Texas A&M-CC game notes.

Here’s a link to the Texas A&M-CC women’s basketball page.

Click here to see the entire Islander roster.

Georgia – 75, Alabama State – 48. This game? It was what it was. Honestly, nobody ever expected this one to be an instant classic…but it did give everybody on the roster plenty of touches and it gave the rookie post players a chance to show what they can do as Angel, still recuperating from bonking her head in the Rutgers game over the weekend, was given the night off. J.J. led all scorers with 17 points. Anne Marie, making the most of her expanded minutes, scored 13 points while Ash pitched in with 13 points of her own.

The Lady Dawgs are now en route to Hattiesburg, MS to take on Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in the Lady Eagle Thanksgiving Classic. You gotta love those holiday tournaments. That game will tip-off at 8:00 PM (Eastern) on Friday night. If Georgia wins, they’ll play either Southern Mississippi or Jackson State in the tournament championship game on Saturday. We’ll have a Georgia/Texas A&M-Corpus Christi preview posted here very shortly.

And, lest we forget…from your official Fastbreak Club weblog…Here’s wishing all Fastbreakers and their families a safe and bountiful Thanksgiving. Eat lots of turkey and hug lots of necks.

Click here for the official UGA/Alabama State recap and a link to the stats and box score.

The Lady Bulldogs are ranked nineteenth in this week’s ESPN/USA Today coaches poll. That’s up three spots from last week. Connecticut is still a unanimous number-one and the top five is unchanged from last week. Here’s the ESPN/USA Today top five and Georgia’s ranking:

1. Connecticut

2. Stanford

3. Ohio State

4. North Carolina

5. Tennessee

19. GEORGIA

Click here to see the entire ESPN/USA Today Top 25.

Before you go over the meadow and through the woods to Grandmother’s house for Thanksgiving, why not stop by The Coliseum to watch our Lady Dawgs go for their fourth straight win versus Alabama State tomorrow night? The size of the crowd might be…well, let’s just say it might resemble “an intimate gathering,” what with school being out and holiday travel being in full swing. So you should look at being at Stegeman tomorrow night as official confirmation of your Lady Bulldog Die Hard status. See you there, fellow Die Hards…and, heck, just go ahead and bring Grandmother along with you.

Georgia and Alabama State are set to tip-off at 6:00 PM tomorrow night at Stegeman Coliseum. (Please make a note of that starting time: 6:00 PM…an hour earlier than usual for weeknight games.) If you’ll be on the road or at Grandmother’s, you can listen to the game on your local Georgia Bulldog Radio Network affiliate station. We’ll have a game recap, web links, and exclusive photos posted right here at your official Fastbreak Club weblog sometime late(ish) tomorrow night.

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

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

Click here to see the entire Lady Hornet roster.

According to a press release posted today on the official Rutgers women’s basketball web page, Scarlet Knights guard Khadijah Rushdan (pictured) has been diagnosed with a bone spur on her left knee. No timetable was given for her return to the Rutgers lineup…but Coach Stringer expresses relief regarding Khadijah’s condition in the press release and that’s good enough for us. Anything’s better than those three dreaded little letters that we all think of whenever a player goes down and grabs her knee.

Click here to read the official press release on Khadijah Rushdan’s injury.