Sunday, February 6, 2011

Landers Gets 850th Win

BASKETBALL

The 24th-ranked University of Georgia women’s basketball team raced out to a 10-0 lead and never looked back in an 81-54 Super Bowl Sunday win over SEC West rival Alabama inside Stegeman Coliseum, remaining a perfect 11-0 at home this season.

The win gave head coach Andy Landers the 850th of his legendary career – becoming just the fifth member of the exclusive club that also includes Pat Summitt, Jody Conradt, C. Vivian Stringer and Sylvia Hatchell. Of those, 767 wins have come with the Lady Dawgs.

Georgia was led by freshman Khaalidah Miller’s 22 points, while her teammates Anne Marie Armstrong (16), Porsha Phillips (12), and Meredith Mitchell (10) also reached double figures in the win as Georgia jumps to 18-5 (8-2). Alabama got a combined 21 points from Ericka Russell and Jasmine Robinson as the Crimson Tide fall to 12-12 (1-10) on the year.

“We rebounded the ball better starting the game,” Landers said. “Anne Marie and Porsha both got the ball, but they also left some points on the table. They were both active, got the ball under the rim and scored early. Anne Marie’s two threes early in the game helped create the separation. Coming into today, we understood that LaToya King and Tierney Jenkins were the people who generate the offense for them, and our team took it as a challenge to stop those two, particularly our inside people, and I really think they did an excellent job with it.”

Georgia got off to the fast 10-0 start on the strength of back-to-back threes from Armstrong. The Lady Dawgs’ lead was quickly 17-5 as freshman Ronika Ransford hit a jumper with 14:17 on the clock in the first half and the Georgia lead would continue to balloon.

The Lady Dawgs rattled off a 12-1 run that increased the advantage to 21, 39-18, with 2:47 to go before halftime, and it remained a 20-point lead at the break, 41-21.

Miller tallied 13 of her game-high 22 in the second half, including a three with 54 seconds left that matched Georgia’s largest lead of the game at 29, 81-52. The rookie from Atlanta went 8-of-10 from the floor and hit a trio of three-pointers on the afternoon, scoring double figures for the 10th time this season.

Phillips chipped in 14 rebounds to lead Georgia to a season-high 52 on the glass, compared to just 31 for the Crimson Tide. Georgia moves to 33-9 all-time vs. Alabama and 15-3 at home.

Today's contest marked Georgia’s annual Pink Zone game, as the team wore pink jerseys to support the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) initiative to assist in raising breast cancer awareness. The Lady Dawgs were without the services of Jasmine James on Sunday. James rested a sprained right wrist initially suffered at Arkansas on January 13.

The Lady Dawgs are back at it this Thursday, February 10 as they welcome Vanderbilt to Athens for a 7 p.m. tip on CSS.

Notes & Quotes
•       With the win today, Andy Landers advances to an impressive 850th career victory as a collegiate head coach. Landers was 82-21 in four seasons at Roane State College from 1975-79 before becoming Georgia’s first full-time women’s basketball head. Landers has a 767-253 record in 32 seasons in Athens.
•       The Lady Dawgs advance to 33-9 all-time against Alabama. Georgia has now won 20 straight games in the series.
•       Porsha Phillips is now 118 points from 1,000 points with the Lady Dawgs. 
•       Porsha Phillips is now 40 blocks from No. 7 Tammye Jenkins among UGA’s career leaders. 
•       With the win today, the Lady Dawgs improve their record to a staggering 425-7 when scoring 80 or more points during Andy Landers’ 32 seasons as UGA.
•       Arieal Johnson tied her season and career high in rebounds with three.
•       Starting guard Jasmine James missed the game, resting a sprained right wrist initially suffered at Arkansas on January 13. James had started 55 consecutive games in her 56-game collegiate career prior to her DNP on Sunday.

Double-Digit Lady Bulldogs
•       Porsha Phillips earned a double-double with 12 points and 14 rebounds, her ninth of the season and the 20th of her career.
•       Porsha Phillips earned double-digits in points with 12, her 14th of the season and the 51st of her career.
•       Porsha Phillips earned double-digits in rebounds with 14, her 14th of the season and the 32nd of her career.
•       Khaalidah Miller earned double-digits in points with 22, her 10th of the season and the 10th of her career.
•       Anne Marie Armstrong earned double-digits in points with 16, her sixth of the season and the 12th of her career.
•       Meredith Mitchell
earned double-digits in points with 10, her ninth of the season and the 22nd of her career.

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