Notice below that the old “Lady Razorbacks” logo is gone? I was informed by an Arkansas alumnus and Facebook friend that the Razorbacks have now officially dropped the “Lady” part of their moniker. So does that leave Georgia and Tennessee as the only “Ladies” left in the SEC? I was thinking that Auburn still used “Lady.” Anyway…somebody pay attention to the P.A. announcer at the SEC Tournament this March and report back to me. In much more important matters, the 11-1 Arkansas (not Lady) Razorbacks come to town tomorrow to face our 11-2 and nationally ranked Lady Bulldogs in the SEC opener for both teams. Arkansas Coach Tom Cullen has taken the Razorback program and turned it into a consistent threat to make the post-season any given year. The Lady Dawgs will need to “D”-up hard on Razorback veteran leading scorers Sarah Watkins (11.3 points-per-game) and C’eira Ricketts and get big games down low in the paint from Hassell, Anne Marie, and Tamika if they want to get that first SEC win on the first day of the new year. It’s not quite a size mismatch…but the couple of extra inches and added athleticism the Lady Dawgs get from their “bigs” should translate into a rebounding/points-in-the-paint advantage. From there, it’ll just be a matter of knocking down shots and taking care of the ball. So join all of your Fastbreaking friends at the Coliseum tomorrow afternoon for the first can’t-miss game of 2012. See you there!

Georgia and Arkansas will each attempt to start SEC play (and the year 2012) off in a winning fashion tomorrow afternoon (2:00 PM) at Stegeman Coliseum. No TV…but you can catch the game live on your local Georgia Bulldog Radio Network affiliate station. We’ll have a game recap, web links, and exclusive Georgia/Arkansas photos posted right here sometime tomorrow night. In the meantime, Fastbreakers…Happy New Year! Stay safe and get to the game healthy and happy.

Click here for the official Georgia/Arkansas game notes.

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

Click here to see the complete Razorback roster.

I’m officially calling it right here and now…so remember where you heard it first: Erika Ford is going to drop twenty-plus points on somebody in an SEC game sometime this season. Maybe more than once. She displays great creative and improvisational tools on offense, creating shots when it looks like she’s well-defended. Just a joy to watch. Erika scored a dozen first-half points with her silky smooth moves to the hoop and rainbow-trajectory jumpshots, propelling the Lady Bulldogs to a big early lead over visiting Furman.hey never looked back, winning by twenty-five points over the Paladins tonight at the Coliseum. Anne Marie led all Georgia scorers with 19 points while Hassell and Meredith scored 15 and 12 respectively. Erika wound up with ten rebounds to go along with those aforementioned 14 points, giving her a statistical double-double. The Lady Dawgs were once again without the services of All-SEC, All-Everything guard Jasmine James, who’s still nursing a sprained knee. While Georgia’s looked awfully impressive in the games J.J.’s missed so far, the competition curve is about to steepen considerably as SEC action tips off this Sunday afternoon versus Arkansas.

The Lady Bulldogs improved to 11-2 with tonight’s big win while the Paladins fell to 8-4. All in all, not a bad way to finish off 2011 and prime the pump for conference play. We’ll have a preview of Sunday’s SEC opener against Arkansas posted right here sometime during the day on Friday.

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

Not much to report in terms of the top five teams in the nation this week. Everybody held serve for the second straight week. (And Connecticut once again had their scandalous solitary first-place vote in the ESPN/USA Today poll…I mean, come on.) Speaking of holding serve, the Lady Bulldogs retained their number-fifteen ranking in the coaches poll…even as they tumbled four spots in the AP poll on the heels of that heartbreaking loss to Georgetown in Las Vegas. Writers only know what they read on the internet. Trust the coaches. (Except that one who keeps voting for UConn as number-one…)

Here’s a look at the top five in both national polls and Georgia’s ranking:

AP

1. Baylor

2. Connecticut

3. Notre Dame

4. Stanford

5. Maryland

17. GEORGIA

ESPN/USA TODAY

1. Baylor

2. Connecticut

3. Notre Dame

4. Stanford

5. Maryland

15. GEORGIA

Click here to see the entire top-25 in both major polls.

First, a website housekeeping note: Sorry for tonight’s Georgia/Furman preview being a day late. Hopefully things will get back on schedule once the holidays are behind us. That being said…how was Christmas for you? If you didn’t get everything wanted, here’s hoping that you at least wanted everything you got.

Right now, what every Fastbreaker wants is more Lady Bulldog basketball. And you’ll get exactly that tonight as our 10-2 and 17th-ranked Lady Dawgs play their final game of 2011 down at the Coliseum. Furman (8-3, 4-0 in Southern Conference play) is in town tonight and Georgia has never lost to the Paladins. J.J., still nursing a bad knee, is listed as questionable for tonight’s game…so the Lady Bulldogs may well end up attempting to maintain their perfect 7-0 record in head-to-head competition against Furman without one of their most potent offensive weapons. If Khaalidah, Hassell, and the freshmen step up and assert themselves like they did against Montana State and Appalachian State last week, Georgia should ultimately be in pretty good shape. It’s the last game of the year…your last chance in 2011 to come out get your yell on…so come on out and bring a friend or two. See you there!

Georgia and Furman are set for a 7:00 PM tip-off tonight at Stegeman Coliseum. No TV for tonight’s game…but you can catch all the action with Jeff Dantzler on your local Georgia Bulldog Radio Network affiliate station. We’ll have a game recap, web links, and exclusive Georgia/Furman photos posted right here sometime late tonight (a couple of hours after the final buzzer).

Click here for the official Georgia/Furman game notes.

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

Click here to see the complete Paladin roster.

Oh, come on now. This was supposed to be the week, as predicted here, that Baylor became the unanimous choice as the number-one team in the land. The writers in the AP poll certainly thought so. But…somehow…one solitary first-place vote in the ESPN/USA Today poll of the nation’s coaches went to Connecticut. ‘Fess up, Geno…is that you? Georgia’s split out in Las Vegas cost the Lady Bulldogs a couple of spots from last week in the ESPN/USA Today poll. No biggie. It’s a long season.

Here’s a look at the top five in both national polls and Georgia’s ranking:

AP

1. Baylor

2. Connecticut

3. Notre Dame

4. Stanford

5. Maryland

13. GEORGIA

ESPN/USA TODAY

1. Baylor

2. Connecticut

3. Notre Dame

4. Stanford

5. Maryland

15. GEORGIA

Click here to see the entire top-25 in both major polls.

Okay…so maybe we needn’t have worried about the possibility of the Lady Bulldogs having Christmas on their minds against Appalachian State. If Georgia’s thoughts did indeed stray in a Christmasward direction at some point tonight, it was probably because they spent forty minutes stuffing the Mountaineers’ stockings full of coal. The Lady Dawgs got three double-doubles tonight from Khaalidah (23 points, 11 rebounds), Krista (22 points and 13 boards), and Jazz (13 points, 11 rebounds) as they rolled up on State by 44 points. The Mountaineers tried to frustrate Georgia early by trapping on defense, but the Lady Dawgs broke the press and were absolutely relentless on “D” themselves, harassing State into a lamentable 3-of-26 shooting performance from the field in the first half. In the second half, Georgia’s transition game started hitting on all cylinders as the Lady Bulldogs sprinted off into the distance. As Jeff and Coach Landers noted during the post-game radio show, you simply couldn’t ask for a better performance from our Lady Dawgs heading into the Christmas break.

It’s Christmas break time for your official Fastbreak Club website, too. After updating the poll rankings tomorrow, we’ll be back on the 27th for a preview of the Georgia/Furman game. Ho, ho, ho, Fastbreakers!

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

Looking for a break from this brutal December heat? Come on down to Stegeman Coliseum tonight and enjoy the air conditioning as our Lady Bulldogs take on the Mountaineers of Appalachian State. It’s the last game before Christmas…so it should be a festive occasion, despite the somewhat unseasonable atmospheric conditions. State may be “only” a Southern Conference program, but you better believe they’re going to come into Athens tonight ready to ball. The Mountaineers have only lost once (to Virginia on the road) in nine games this season and are currently ranked eleventh in the College Insider Mid-Major Top-25. Their second-leading scorer is former Madison County standout Courtney Freeman…so here’s hoping she has plenty of support in the house tonight. It’s always fun to host the local high school stars, no matter what uniform they’re wearing. It’ll be the third game in four nights for the nationally ranked 9-2 Lady Dawgs. They’ll need to shake off the jet lag from their Las Vegas trip and tune out any visions of sugar plums dancing in their heads to take care of business against State tonight. You may not need your Christmas sweater, but…see you there!

Georgia and Appalachian State take to the Stegeman Coliseum hardwood tonight at 7:00 PM. CSS cable subscribers can watch the game live and it can be heard on your local Georgia Bulldog Radio network affiliate station. We’ll have a game recap, web links, and exclusive Georgia/Appalachian State photos posted right here sometime late tonight.

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

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

Click here to see the complete Mountaineer roster.

Last night, our Lady Bulldogs shook off any possible lingering after-effects from Monday night’s heartbreaking loss and closed out their second Vegas road trip of the season with a big win. Let’s go to the official recap, courtesy of Georgiadogs.com:

Jasmine Hassell and Khaalidah Miller scored 13 points apiece to lead No. 13 Georgia (9-2) to a 63-49 win over Montana State (7-4) in the Las Vegas Holiday Hoops Classic on Tuesday.

The Lady Bulldogs opened up a double-digit lead early in the contest and maintained a comfortable margin the rest of the way but failed to put more significant distance on the scoreboard several times.

“I asked our players in the locker room how many points they thought we left out there and by their own admission they said 24 to 28,” head coach Andy Lander said. “We missed a lot of easy shots. We have execute what we want to do offensively better.”

Georgia led by as many as 16 points early in the second half but allowed Montana State to pull within 48-42 with 6:21 remaining. Consecutive buckets from Tamika Willis pushed the margin back to double figures less than a minute later, and the Bobcats never got closer than 10 the rest of the way.

Georgia opened up a double-digit lead 6:13 into the game, building a 16-6 advantage on a transition layup by Jasmine James at the 12:47 mark. Montana State chipped the lead down to five at 19-14 before a 9-0 surge gave the Lady Bulldogs a 28-14 lead with 6:38 on the clock.
The Bobcats again rallied and closed the gap to six on a three from Ausha Cole with 1:07 remaining in the period before a short jumper from Hassell and a three by Miller restored an 11-point gap at the intermission.

“At the end of the first half, those last few possessions, I thought we did a nice job or moving the ball and finding the open person and knocking down shots to push the lead back out there,” Landers said.
Anne Marie Armstrong collected a career-high seven steals, and Jasmine James paced the Lady Bulldogs with eight rebounds and three assists.

The Lady Bulldogs will now return home to host Appalachian State on Thursday at 7:00 PM. That contest is the first of three-game homestand through Georgia’s SEC opener against Arkansas on Sunday, Jan. 1 at 2:00 PM. The Lady Bulldogs also will host Furman on Wednesday, Dec. 28 at 7:00 PM.

Apologies for the recap being a little late…but that’s life during Christmas week in a household with little kids. The Georgia/Appalachian State preview will be posted sometime this evening. Thanks to our loyal Fastbreakers (and anyone else who checks this website out from time to time) for all of your support!

You just read the official recap…but click here for the stats and box score.

The Lady Bulldogs (8-2) will look to shake off tonight’s tough, tough last-second loss to Gonzaga as they continue Las Vegas Holiday Hoops Classic play tomorrow night against the Bobcats of Montana State. State (7-3) also lost in Holiday Hoops Classic action tonight, falling to Illinois by a dozen points. No TV…again…for tomorrow night’s game. Strictly radio, via your local Georgia Bulldog Radio network affiliate station. The Georgia/Montana State game will tip off at 6:30 PM (Eastern) at South Point Arena in Las Vegas. Two good teams trying to come off the deck after disappointing losses…here’s hoping our Lady Dawgs can get right back in the saddle and soar back home to Athens on a winning note. We’ll have a Georgia/Montana State game recap and web links posted right here sometime late tomorrow night.

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

Click here to see the complete Bobcat roster.

Wow. As you know if you’re a regular reader here, I have radio reception issues living out in Winterville. So I have to follow most road games online. I was checking in on tonight’s game periodically via Yahoo Sports and feeling pretty good when, just after a late dinner, I saw that we were up by three with less than a minute left. I took two minutes to load the dishwasher, came back to the home office, hit “refresh”…and saw that we had lost the game by three points. Again…wow. I’m sure the Lady Dawgs will actually be quite happy to play again right away tomorrow night rather than stew for a couple of days over tonight’s game. Here’s the official game recap, courtesy of Georgiadogs.com:

Haiden Palmer hit a long three-pointer with two-tenths of a second remaining to give Gonzaga its only lead of the game in a 71-68 victory over No. 13 Georgia in the opening day of the Las Vegas Holiday Hoops Classic on Monday.

Palmer’s three completed a 22-4 run over the final 6:45 as the Zags (9-2) erased a 15-point deficit to rally past the Lady Bulldogs (8-2).
“We played very well for much of the game, but in the final minutes we came unraveled,” head coach Andy Landers said. “We turned it over and let them get offensive rebounds and missed some shots. You put that all together and it turned this game into a very disappointing performance.”

Jasmine Hassell paced Georgia for the third consecutive game with 21 points, while Anne Marie Armstrong and Jasmine James chipped in 15 and 13, respectively. Katelan Redman posted game highs of 23 points and 10 rebounds for Gonzaga, and Palmer added 22 points.

James’ three-pointer with 7:12 remaining put the Lady Bulldogs up 64-49, the fourth time in the game Georgia led by 15 points. Palmer answered on the other end to ignite a 10-0 over the next 2:19 that closed the gap to 64-59.

The Zags eventually tied the game at 68-68 on a Palmer layup with 20 seconds left. Palmer then fouled James with 9.8 seconds remaining. James missed the front end of a one-and-one, setting the stage for Palmer’s game-winner.

Georgia started quickly and led by double figures for most of the game.
Armstrong hit consecutive buckets to start the game and Hassell added a layup at the 18:33 mark to quickly put Georgia up 6-0. The Lady Bulldogs maintained an two-possession lead for the remainder of the period, with the lead topping out at 15 points twice.

After Georgia led 31-16 with 4:27 left in the period, Gonzaga closed the half with on a 11-4 run to trim the margin to eight at the intermission.

“In the first half, we forced the game to played at the pace we wanted it to be played,” Landers said. “The first 20 minutes were a very, very good half of basketball for us.”

The Lady Bulldogs will now face Montana State on Tuesday afternoon at 6:30 PM ET before returning home to host Appalachian State on Thursday at 7:00 PM. That contest is the first of three-game homestand through Georgia’s SEC opener against Arkansas on Sunday, Jan. 1 at 2:00 PM. The Lady Bulldogs also will host Furman on Wednesday, Dec. 28 at 7:00 PM.

You just read the official recap…but click here for the stats and box score.