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Lady Basketball History
The Georgia Lady Bulldog basketball program, long among the most respected in the nation, continues to thrive under head coach Andy Landers. The Lady Bulldogs have received invitations to all but two NCAA Tournaments, the third-best tally of any school in the nation. And Georgia has made the most of those bids, finishing as NCAA runner-up in 1985 and 1996 and advancing to five Final Fours, 10 Elite Eights and 16 Sweet 16s. Georgia ranks No. 4 in the all-time Associated Press women’s basketball poll which is compiled by combining the year-end standings of each season’s final AP rankings. Georgia has also won a combined 11 Southeastern Conference Championships and SEC Tournament titles, the second most by any league school in the nation's premier women's basketball conference. Accomplishments such as the aforementioned probably weren't even dreamed of when Landers, then just 26 years old, was hired as the school's first full-time women's coach in 1979. Within just two seasons, he had established the Lady Bulldogs as a force to be reckoned with. Whereas Georgia struggled to defeat other state schools prior to Landers' arrival; the Lady Bulldogs soon thereafter were competing with the nation's best. Landers' initial campaign in Athens showed immediate improvement, producing only the second winning season in school history. The following year, Georgia captured the championship trophy at the National Women's Invitational Tournament. The Lady Dogs secured a berth in the first-ever NCAA-sanctioned tournament for women's basketball in 1982 and a year later advanced to the NCAA Final Four. Within just four short seasons, Landers had taken a program with a cumulative winning percentage of less than .350 and turned Georgia into the hottest women's basketball schools in the nation. The true measure of the Lady Bulldogs' national stature has been the continuation of such success. Landers' teams have averaged 24.3 wins per season in Athens, giving him the third-best annual tally among all Division I coaches with as much tenure. Sandwiched between 30-win seasons in both 1984 and 1986, Georgia reached the 1985 NCAA Championship game. The Lady Dogs also earned NCAA bids in 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990 and 1991 -- giving Georgia the distinction of playing in the first 10 NCAA Tournaments. Though missing the "Big Dance" for the first time ever in 1992, the Lady Dogs still advanced to the championship game of the SEC Tournament that season. A second consecutive trip to the SEC Tourney final resulted in a return the NCAAs in 1993. After starting five freshmen and finishing just 17-11 in 1994, the same nucleus of talent has led Georgia to three of its most successful seasons ever. The Lady Bulldogs returned to the NCAA Tournament with a ban in 1995, reaching the Final Four with a junior and four sophomores in the starting five. Since then, Georgia has earned a bid in dozen straight NCAA Tournaments. The primary reason for such outstanding performances throughout the last two decades is still a key ingredient in the Lady Bulldogs' success -- securing the nation's best players to wear the Red & Black. Landers readily admits that the secret to Georgia's prominence has more to do with the hard work of his players than anything else. Over the years, Lady Bulldog fans have had the opportunity to call not only the best players in the nation, but the best in the world, their very own. Janet Harris, a four-time All-American from 1982-85, was the first in what is still a rapidly increasing list of Georgia standouts. Teresa Edwards won her first gold medal as the youngest member of the 1984 U.S. Olympic Team after her sophomore season with the Lady Bulldogs. In 1996, she became the first U.S. basketball player – male or female -- to compete in five Olympic Games. Joining her in Atlanta was former Lady Bulldog teammate Katrina McClain, competing in her third Olympiad. Edwards and McClain were then the backbone of U.S. National Teams for more than a decade – headlining teams which won gold medals at the 1988 and 1996 Olympics, the 1986 and 1990 World Championships, and the 1987 Pan Am Games, as well as a bronze medal at the 1992 Olympics. Edwards completed her international career as co-captain of the 2000 U.S. Olympic team and by securing her fourth Gold Medal. During the mid-1990s, La’Keshia Frett, Tracy Henderson, Kedra Holland-Corn and Saudia Roundtree led Georgia to back-to-back Final Fours and consecutive SEC Championships before embarking on successful professional careers. Of late, greats like Coco and Kelly Miller, twin sisters who both scored more than 2,000 points for the Lady Bulldogs; Deanna “Tweety” Nolan, the MVP of the 2006 WNBA Finals; and Sherill Baker, the 2006 National Defensive Player of the Year have added their name alongside those previous greats. |
2012-13 Lady Bulldog Roster Coaches
NameHt.ClassHometown/Last School 1Khaalidah Miller5-9GJRAtlanta, Ga./Douglass HS 2Ebony Jones6-2FSRCedar Hill, Texas/Cedar Hill HS 3Anne Marie Armstrong6-3G/FSRNorcross, Ga./Wesleyan School 4Danielle Bennett5-10GSRSpringfield, Mo./Hillsborough (Fla.) CC 10Jasmine James5-9GSRMemphis, Tenn./Bartlett HS 11Tiaria Griffin5-7GFRMonticello, Miss./Hattiesburg 12Jasmine Hassell6-2FSRLebanon, Tenn./Wilson Central HS 13Merritt Hempe6-2FFRFredericksburg, Va./Stafford 15Krista Donald5-11G/FSOLake, Miss./Lake HS 20Shacobia Barbee5-10G/FFRMurfreesboro, Tenn./Riverdale 22Kaelyn Causwell6-4FFRSacramento, Calif./Wesleyan School 23Tamika Willis6-2FSRCollege Park, Ga./Westlake HS 24Marjorie Butler5-8GFRKnoxville, Tenn./Webb School 31Erika Ford5-9GSOAlpharetta, Ga./Chattahoochee HS Coaches Andy Landers - Head Coach Joni Crenshaw - Associate Head Coach Angie Johnson - Assistant Coach Robert Mosley - Assistant Coach Shannon Becker - Athletic Trainer Jon Bollier - Operations Coordinator Katherine Graham - Graduate Assistant Manager Kelly Mathis - Recruiting Operations Coordinator La'Keshia Frett Meredith - Director of Basketball Operations |