Dawgs Ready To Hit The Road

FOOTBALL

The Dawgs wrapped up preparations in Athens for their upcoming bowl game in Louisiana by conducting a 75-minute workout today.

Coach Richt said that the Dawgs have had productive workouts here and now will have a travel day Wednesday before the team reconvenes Thursday by 3:30 p.m. ET in Shreveport, site of the Advocare V100 Independence Bowl.

“It was a pretty good last day, everybody did a nice job and we finished up with some conditioning that was cut in half thanks to Brandon Boykin,” said Richt.

It has become customary during the final bowl practice for Richt to ask if any member of the team is willing to sing a holiday tune to cut down on the number of sprints the team has to run at the end of practice. Former offensive lineman Chester Adams was known for his ability to carry a tune and was always the first to step up for the squad.

“Brandon Boykin jumped up and sang something about a mistletoe, and I know everybody appreciated that,” said Richt. “He saved his teammates over 500 yards of running.”

Richt also announced that everybody on the team is eligible for the bowl game and that 43 players posted a grade point average of at least a 3.0.

“We don’t have any issues, it was a very successful semester academically, and that’s a great job by our players and academic support staff,” said Richt.

The Dawgs (7-5) are slated to arrive on their own Thursday and then depart for a team activity at Barksdale Air Force Base. They will return to practice on Friday.

Christmas will begin with a morning visit to patients at a local hospital followed by an afternoon practice at Independence Stadium and then dinner at the team hotel.

The Dawgs will practice Saturday and hold a walk-through session Sunday before Monday’s game with Texas A&M.

BASKETBALL

Jasmine James has been tabbed SEC Freshman of the Week for women's basketball, the third time in six weeks that the Memphis native has been honored as such this season.

On Sunday, James recorded team highs of 17 points, 10 rebounds and three steals to lead THE No. 11 Dawgs to a decisive 69-53 victory over No. 19 Virginia in the Lady Dawgs only game last week. She notched career-high tallies in rebounds, steals and minutes played (37) and posted her first career double-double.

James scored 11 points in the first half and her three-pointer with 8:29 left in the opening period gave the Dawgs the lead for good and sparked a 13-1 surge that turned a two-point deficit into a 10-point lead.

James, a 5-9, guard, also was named SEC Freshman of the Week on Nov. 16 and Nov. 30. She was honored initially after scoring a team-high 15 points in an upset of No. 13 Oklahoma in the season opener and was selected again after averaging 19.7 points, 5.0 rebounds and 5.0 assists in a trio of victories over Alabama State, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and Southern Miss.

The Lady Dawgs improved to 10-0 with the victory over Virginia, the third ranked opponent the Dawgs have defeated this season. The Lady Dawgs complete their pre-Christmas slate tonight when they host Detroit at Stegeman Coliseum at 7:00 p.m.