Today is Ashley’s 22nd birthday! Roll on, A-Train!

(Original artwork courtesy of Fastbreaking News editor Jermaine King.)

Georgia – 80, Savannah State – 45. Well, from reading the wire service reports on this game, it certainly sounds like the Lady Bulldogs just came out and flat took care of business. I’m relying on the wires tonight because the local Athens radio station that carries Lady Bulldog basketball has a signal that barely reaches beyond the Stegeman Coliseum parking lot on a crystal clear night. Throw in heavy cloud cover, on-and-off rain, and the fact that I’m out in Winterville and, long story short, I didn’t get to listen to the game tonight. So, no personal observations or witticisms tonight…instead, we’re cutting-and-pasting an excerpt from the official Georgiadogs.com recap. The full recap can, as always, be found by clicking the link below this post.

SAVANNAH, GA – The No. 9-ranked Georgia Lady Bulldogs raced to a 27-3 lead less than nine minutes into the game en route to an 80-45 victory over Savannah State (8-8) on Wednesday night.

Freshmen Jasmine Hassell and Anne Marie Armstrong scored 13 and 12 points, respectively, to lead Georgia, while Ashley Houts added 10. Freshman Jasmine James collected seven steals, the single-game high by any Lady Bulldog this season.

“We started the game well,” Andy Landers said. “We did some good things off of the turnovers we created. I thought they were a little bit tentative, and we did a nice job of getting our teeth into them and building a big lead. I thought once they scored a little bit, they did a very nice job of coming back and competing very well the rest of the way.”

The Lady Bulldogs improve to 13-0, equaling the second-best start in school history, and also finish the non-conference portion of their schedule undefeated for just the fourth time in school history. Georgia opened both the 2007-08 and 1989-90 seasons with 13 straight wins. On Sunday at Alabama, the Lady Bulldogs will attempt to equal the best start in school history established during a 1998-99 Final Four campaign.

Georgia began the contest with a quick 6-0 run, with Porsha Phillips, James and Houts scoring on open looks. The Lady Bulldogs continued their onslaught and eventually built a 24-point lead with 11:36 left in the first half.

Georgia’s offense, which has struggled to convert good looks of late, enjoyed a stellar first half. The Lady Bulldogs connected on 16-of-30 shots from the field, a 53.3 percent success rate against a Savannah State team that ranks second nationally in field goal percentage defense.

The Lady Bulldogs finished the half with a 46-26 lead. That tally was 1.3 points shy of what the Tigers, who also rank second in the nation in scoring defense, gave up per game in their first 15 contests of the campaign.

Savannah State remained within 20 for the first half of the second stanza before a 14-0 run put Georgia up 72-39 with 4:23 left.

The Lady Bulldogs will open SEC play this Sunday when they travel to Tuscaloosa to face Alabama.

We’ll have a preview of the Georgia/Alabama game posted here sometime during the evening on Friday.

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

The nation’s coaches concurred with the AP writers in declaring that absolutely nothing happened last week that should have any effect on the national rankings. I’m actually surprised that Stanford held their ground at number-two after a pretty decisive loss to Connecticut. The voters in both polls are apparently taking a “wait and see” attitude toward Tennessee and Notre Dame since neither team was able to move up to second in the wake of Stanford’s loss. As for our Lady Bulldogs…Georgia continues to hang in there at number-eight. Here’s a look at the ESPN/USA Today top five and Georgia’s ranking:

1. Connecticut

2. Stanford

3. Notre Dame

4. Tennessee

5. Baylor

8. GEORGIA

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

Our undefeated, eighth-ranked Lady Bulldogs will play their final game of the decade tomorrow night as they travel to Savannah State for a 7:00 PM (Eastern) game with the Lady Tigers. State’s season is off to a rather bumpy start…they head into tomorrow night with a record of 8-7 and having lost their last three games. For Georgia, it’s the final hurdle before SEC play begins this Sunday against Alabama. They’ll look to improve to 13-0, only one win short of equaling the program’s best-ever start. There’s always a big turnout of the Red-and-Black faithful whenever Georgia plays in Savannah…if you can make the trip, every hollering voice helps give the Lady Dawgs that crucial “sixth man” (or, in this case, “sixth woman”) advantage. That makes a big difference…especially on the road.

Georgia and Savannah State will tip things off at 7:00 PM (Eastern) tomorrow night at Tiger Arena in Savannah. If you can’t make the road trip, be sure to listen to Jeff and Maria as they call the action on your local Georgia Bulldog Radio Network affiliate station. We’ll have a Georgia/Savannah State recap posted right here shortly after the game’s conclusion.

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

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

Click here to see the entire Lady Tiger roster.

Your top twelve teams this week according to Associated Press voters are…wait for it…the same exact twelve teams as last week in the same exact order. That means our Lady Bulldogs are still ranked eighth in the nation. Check back later on this afternoon for the latest ESPN/USA Today coaches poll. Here’s this week’s AP top five and Georgia’s ranking:

1. Connecticut

2. Stanford

3. Notre Dame

4. Tennessee

5. Baylor

8. GEORGIA

Click here to see the entire AP Top 25.

Georgia – 59, Clemson – 47. Maybe the locker room facilities aren’t state-of-the-art…maybe there aren’t enough electronic widgets for the press table…or maybe they just want to have fancy luxury boxes and suites…whatever the case may be, there are folks in Clemson who contend that the Tigers need a new basketball arena. I contend that those folks are nuts. Littlejohn Coliseum is a basketball cathedral. From the tiger paw prints painted on the streets to its convenient and centralized location on the lovely Clemson campus…and from the ticket-takers who always tell visiting fans from other schools “We’re glad you’re here” to the little orange paw prints splattered all over the seats, everything about the Clemson/Littlejohn Coliseum experience denotes College Basketball Done Right. It’s a fantastic place to watch a game.

It’s a shame, then, that only about 1,100 fans turned out at Littlejohn to watch last night’s Georgia/Clemson game…but the good news is that well over half of them were rooting for the Lady Bulldogs, including a ton of road-tripping Fastbreakers. There were many things to worry about last night for Georgia fans: The free throw shooting is still an issue. Too many chances to stretch out an 8-to-10-point lead were frittered away. It was another sub-40% shooting night for the Lady Dawgs and a clear, “go-to” scoring threat with the game on the line still has yet to emerge. But here’s something to smile about: Despite all of those issues (and more), Georgia found a way to win a tough game on the road. Any team can go out and run the other guys off the court when all its cylinders are firing…but gutting out a win on the road with less than your “A” game says something about a team’s heart and character. It’s Exhibit-A for anyone around the country wondering if Georgia’s for real or not.

Georgia’s for real.

Angel was the player of the game for the Lady Bulldogs, posting yet another double-double (12 points, 14 rebounds) and leading Georgia’s dominant effort on the boards (50 total rebounds for the team on the night). Porsha scored also scored a dozen points and Ash wound up with ten points to round out a trio of Lady Dawg double-digit scorers. J.J. (8 points) and Meredith (6 points) never really got untracked offensively…but they made up for it on defense, deflecting several passes that led to Clemson turnovers. Anne Marie once again provided instant offense from the bench as she entered the game and scored a quick seven points.

The Lady Bulldogs invade the Coastal Empire tomorrow night as they travel to historic Savannah for their final tune-up before SEC play cranks up. We’ll have a Georgia/Savannah State preview posted here sometime this evening.

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

(Sorry this update is a day late. Somebody must’ve spiked the eggnog.)

It’s always a good scrap whenever Georgia and Clemson get together in anything. Last time the Lady Bulldogs hooked it up with their neighbors from Tiger Town, they stared down the barrel of a double-digit deficit in the first half before rallying for a 67-50 win at Gwinnett Arena. Tonight, they’ll travel to the Tigers’ den for the latest skirmish in this border war. With the Tigers and Savannah State (on Wednesday night) standing between the Lady Dawgs and an undefeated record heading into SEC play, you can expect to see a geeked-up and ready Georgia squad taking the floor at Littlejohn Coliseum tonight. Clemson is a relatively short and easy road trip for most citizens of the Lady Bulldog Nation…so set the VCR or the TiVO to record the Independence Bowl and let’s make some noise in the other guy’s gym.

Tonight’s Georgia/Clemson game tips off at 7:00 PM (Eastern) at Littlejohn Coliseum, located on the Clemson campus. CSS will broadcast the game live for Comcast cable customers…but the radio situation is a little tricky. Since most, if not all, Georgia Bulldog Radio Network affiliates will be broadcasting the Independence Bowl, the Georgia/Clemson women’s basketball game will either be shifted to another local radio station or maybe not aired at all. Your best bet would be to simply call the local radio station that usually carries Lady Bulldog basketball and ask what their plans are for tonight’s Georgia/Clemson game. (In the Athens area, tonight’s Lady Bulldog game will be shifted to Magic 102.1 FM.)

Your humble Fastbreak Club blogger is actually making the trip to Clemson tonight…so the game recap may not be posted until sometime tomorrow. We’ll also have exclusive photos and, as always, web links to all the inside scoop on Georgia vs. Clemson. See you there!

Click here for the official Georgia/Clemson game notes.

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

Click here to see the entire Tiger roster.

It’s not Lady Bulldog news, but anybody with even a passing interest in women’s college basketball should be watching this game. The number-two team in the nation, the undefeated Stanford Cardinal, travels to Hartford for a showdown with the undefeated, unanimous number-one team in the nation, the Connecticut Huskies. ESPN2 will broadcast the Stanford/UConn game live today at 5:30 PM. There will also be a special pre-game show at 5:00 PM looking at the 2009-10 season up to this point. Who knows? Our own Lady Bulldogs just might get a shout-out.

#2 Stanford vs. #1 Connecticut, 5:30 PM today, ESPN2

Georgia – 66, Detroit – 42. We’ve had a good bit of fun here on your Fastbreak Club weblog today with the whole “Detroit media guide” story (scroll down to the two postings previous to this one), but you’ve got to give it up for those pesky Titans. Those kids lace up their ballin’ shoes tight when they play Georgia. Aided greatly by a poor first-half shooting effort by the Lady Dawgs, Detroit trailed Georgia by only four points at halftime (29-25). With quality shots not dropping, the Lady Bulldogs came out for the second half determined to drop the hammer on the Titans defensively and create opportunities to score in transition. Once they started frustrating the Titans and turning them over, the Lady Bulldogs quickly raced to a 20-plus point lead and never looked back, winning by a final score of 66-42.

Jasmine Hassell, in a breakthrough performance, scored 14 points in only 13 minutes of playing time to lead the Lady Bulldogs offensively. Jazz was 6-of-9 from the field and showed off a sweet turnaround baby jumper that she was hitting even in heavy traffic. Ashley and Meredith each scored a dozen points. Tamika Willis scored her first Lady Bulldog points on her very first touch and Candace Williams, who is quickly becoming a crowd favorite at Stegeman Coliseum, drained another three-pointer.

So here’s where we stand heading into the Christmas break: Your Lady Bulldogs are undefeated (11-0) and ranked ninth in the nation. They ran the table on four formidable, nationally ranked teams (Oklahoma, Rutgers, Tech, and Virginia). They’ve fought through injuries to key contributors (Christy Marshall and Angel Robinson). They’ve had newcomers like Jasmine James, Anne Marie Armstrong, and Candace Williams jump straight into the fray without a hint of fear. Taking all of that into account, Coach Landers had this to say on his post-game radio show tonight: “I feel confident in saying that the best is yet to come.”

The Lady Bulldogs travel to Clemson next Monday night (December 28) for the biggest road test of the season thus far. We’ll have a preview of the Georgia/Clemson game posted here sometime during the day on Sunday. 

Just a friendly suggestion.