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Lady Dawgs Return to Winning Ways Against LSU

Posted on Feb 5, 2010 by Ryan Scates  | 

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Georgia got a much needed win tonight, as Andy Landers’ Lady Dawgs snapped a three game losing streak against traditional conference power LSU. Lets dive right into Thursday night’s action.

Notes From the Scene
1. As documented during football season, I really like LSU. Heck, I really like the whole state of Louisiana for that matter. Things like Huey Long stories, Tiger Stadium, Mike the Tiger, New Orleans and HBO’s True Blood make the place seem like some mythical den of wacko that fascinates me. Also, in a funny coincidence I was offered a scholarship to LSU Law School today, so I was excited to see the purple and gold come to Stegeman.

2. If you are looking for a good read during the offseason that isn’t titled The Blind Side, go get a copy of John Ed Bradley’s Southern Gothic novel, The Best There Ever Was. Bradley played football at LSU and apparently still has a hard time returning to Tiger Stadium today, unable to bear not being on the field.

3. The Lady Tigers have been a dominant force in SEC Women’s Basketball through the “aughts”, making Final Four appearances in 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, and 2008. LSU also won the 2005, 2006 and 2008 SEC Titles. For a point of reference, Georgia’s most recent Final Four appearance came in 1999, and most recently won an SEC Title in 2000.

4. Statistically speaking, Georgia and LSU are the SEC’s top two defensive teams. While during the first 19 games of the season the Lady Dawgs gave up an average of 51.6 points per game, during the losing streak the Dawgs have given up a whopping average of 69 points per game. Tonight was a huge improvement for the Lady Dawgs, only surrendering 42 points in regulation.

5. The Lady Dawgs are now 20-16 all-time vs. LSU. The Dawgs lead the series in Athens 11-5.

6. LSU Transfer Porsha Phillips had a big game tonight, her 8 points were enough to make her the second-highest scorer for the Lady Dawgs. Her four points in overtime gave Georgia a lead they would not relinquish.

7. Porsha Phillips was not the only Dawg playing against former teammates tonight. Meredeth Mitchell played at Alabama’s Midfield High School with LSU’s Courtney Jones. At Midfield in 2008, Mitchell and Jones’ squad went 32-1 won the Alabama AAAA State Championship and finished ranked No. 12 in the nation by USA Today. Mitchell finished with seven points, while Jones was held scoreless by the Dawgs

8. At the Arkansas game last night the halftime show featured a Chinese woman riding a 10-foot high unicycle. This woman had an uncanny knack for balancing up to six bowls on her leg before giving a big kick that would send all the bowls spinning into the air before neatly stacking up on top of her head. It was out of this world, and she was back for tonight’s halftime show. When I asked UGA Promotions extraordinaire John Bateman where he found this act he simply replied “…China.”

I wonder how many Chinese 5-Star football recruits went unsigned yesterday…Something tells me these martial arts guys would be hard to bring down in the open field…Just look at how Herschel picked up Mixed Martial Arts…

9. I know every southern school attaches “Lady” to the front of their nickname in women’s sports, but something about the Lady Tigers sticks out. Remember Jasmine’s Pet Tiger from Disney’s Aladdin? No, just me? Well, that is what I picture a Lady Tiger looking like. Ok, moving on…

They Said It…

Porsha Phillips (8 points, 8 rebounds)
On playing former school LSU: “It was fun playing them, I haven’t been there in two years so Itr’s old news now. It’s good to start a one game winning streak, and I hope it continues.”

On tonight’s defensive battle: “It was two great defensive teams, I think were are the two best defensive teams in the SEC and we both played well against each other tonight… we played our butt off in the last five minutes and that is what allowed us to win.”

Head Coach Andy Landers
“There are different styles of defense, and I think that right now LSU and Georgia play similar…stingy. We are the two best stingy defensive teams maybe in the conference.”

“It was a great, great defensive effort, and it turned out to be a decent rebounding effort after a shaky start.”

On running the shot clock down: “It was a product of two things: patience…and their (LSU’s) defense.”

On the gameplan with injured Ashley Houts: “It was all gut…my gut. Play her, watch her face, see what she looks like…I soon as I saw her facial expressions (in first half) and I immediately got her out. At halftime the trainer said she was good so we went with it.”

LSU Head Coach Van Chancellor
“Towards the end, we failed to box out Porsha Phillips. We just didn’t do the job we needed to do.”

Also See:
Official UGA Release

Tagged: lady dawgs, uga, lsu, landers, houts, stegeman, georgia