UGA Women’s Basketball: Game Notes – Georgia Faces No. 2 Seed Iowa in NCAA Second Round
- No. 10 Seed Georgia (22-11, 9-7 SEC) vs. No. 2 seed Iowa (27-6, 15-3 Big Ten)
- Sunday, March 19 | 3 p.m. ET/2 p.m. CT
- Carver-Hawkeye Arena | Iowa City, Iowa
- Radio: Georgia Bulldog Sports Network (Jeff Dantzler) 960 AM The Ref, WXKT 103.7 FM and the Georgia Bulldog App | Affiliates
- TV: ABC (Dave O’Brien and Christy Winters-Scott)
- Video Stream: ESPN+
- Audio Stream: georgiadogs.com
- Social: @UGA_WBB
- History: UGA leads, 3-2 (Full History)
- Last Meeting: – UGA 67-61 (3/23/08) NCAA
GEORGIA LADY BULLDOGS |
IOWA HAWKEYES |
| RECENT STARTERS | ||||||
| No. | Name | Pos. | Ht. | Cl. | PPG | RPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chloe Chapman | G | 5-7 | Sr. | 3.0 | 1.8 |
| 3 | Diamond Battles | G | 5-8 | 5th | 14.5 | 3.3 |
| 20 | Jordan Isaacs | F | 6-0 | Sr. | 2.2 | 3.3 |
| 24 | Brittney Smith | F | 6-3 | 5th | 11.5 | 5.2 |
| 31 | Audrey Warren | G/F | 5-9 | 5th | 8.1 | 3.1 |
» No. 10 seed Georgia plays No. 2 seed Iowa at Carver-Hawkeye Arena for a chance to advance to the Sweet 16. Tip time for Sunday’s game is set for 2 p.m. CT/3 p.m. ET on ABC.
» Georgia defeated No. 7 seed Florida State in the first round on Friday. The Lady Bulldogs held FSU to just a 26.9 percent shooting effort — the lowest field-goal percentage by a Georgia opponent in the NCAA tournament since 2007 and the third-lowest in Georgia’s tournament history.
» The Lady Bulldogs, who advanced to 20 Sweet 16s under Hall of Fame Coach Andy Landers, are looking for their first Sweet 16 appearance in 10 years (2013).
» With the win against Florida State, it marked Georgia’s first victory against a Power 5 opponent in the NCAA tournament since 2013 (vs. Stanford).
» Georgia has won nine of its last 12 games this season, with the lone losses coming to top-5 teams South Carolina and LSU (all three of those away from home).
» All-SEC guard Diamond Battles scored 21 points against Florida State, marking her best scoring effort in a NCAA tournament game in her career. Battles leads Georgia with 26 double-figure scoring efforts this year.
» Senior Javyn Nicholson finished with 13 boards against Florida State. That total was just four shy of the school NCAA tournament record of 17, owned by Tasha Humphrey (2006) and Katrina McClain (1987).
» Fifth-year senior Audrey Warren needs just 16 points to reach 1,000 in her career. She would join teammates Battles and Brittney Smith on that prestigious list.
» Georgia owns a 3-2 lead in the all-time series against Iowa. The Lady Bulldogs took down Iowa, 67-61, in the first round of the 2008 NCAA tournament in the last meeting between the two teams.
» Georgia and Iowa have met twice in the NCAA Tournament (1987 and 2008). Those two games were decided by six points or less. In addition to the 2008 meeting, the Lady Bulldogs lost to Iowa 62-60 in the 1987 NCAA Sweet 16.
» Georgia head coach Katie Abrahamson-Henderson, a native of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, played at Georgia from 1985-87, and then transferred to play closer to home at the University of Iowa from 1988-90. She helped the Lady Bulldogs capture the 1986 SEC Championship, before playing on two Big Ten Championship squads for the Hawkeyes.
» Coach ABE was one of the most sought after recruits in the nation following her outstanding prep career at Washington High School in Cedar Rapids. She was a two-time Iowa all-state selection and Parade first-team All-American after averaging 20.3 points and 8.4 rebounds per game. She scored 2,391 career points and set 15 school records at Washington.
With a SEC-leading 10 newcomers this season, Georgia finally came together in the month of February. After starting 2-5 in the league, the Lady Bulldogs finished 7-2 in the final month of the regular season, including a five-game win streak — the program’s best SEC win streak in six seasons. Coach ABE coached teams boast a remarkable 22-4 record in the month of February over the last three seasons (two at UCF and one at Georgia).
Diamond Battles, the 2022 American Athletic Conference Player and Defensive Player of the Year at UCF, has developed into one of the top players in the SEC. During the regular season, the All-SEC performer ranked among the league’s top-14 players in scoring, assists, steals, free-throw percentage and assist-to-turnover ratio. She ranked third in the conference, playing 34.3 minutes per game.
Georgia’s leading rebounder and third-leading scorer Javyn Nicholson has seen dramatic improvement this season. Her scoring average has jumped by nearly four points per game, going from 4.5 during her first three years combined to 9.5 this season. Her rebounding has improved from 4.0 rpg in three years to 7.0 per contest during the 2022-23 campaign.
Nicholson has 16 double-figure scoring games this season — compared to just 10 in the three years prior — and five double-doubles — compared to just four over the previous three seasons.
Georgia has totaled 343 steals this season, marking its highest team total since 2012-13. The Lady Bulldogs have a nation-best (among Power 5 programs) eight players with 20 or more steals as De’Mauri Flournoy, who has 19 steals, looks to join that group soon. If she does, Georgia would be the first SEC team since Florida in 2015-16 to have nine or more players with 20-plus swipes.
Georgia started the game against Vanderbilt (Feb. 5) a perfect 11-of-11 from the field. The Lady Bulldogs shot 67 percent overall as a team, marking their best shooting percentage in a game since 1988, the most efficient shooting effort of any team in the SEC this season, the sixth-highest mark in program history and the second-best percentage against a conference team in school history.
Georgia became the first SEC team to shoot above 65 percent from the floor and higher than 85 percent from the free-throw line in the same game since the year 2000 (Vanderbilt vs. Portland State).
Georgia defeated Mississippi State, 62-34, on Jan. 29. The 34 points were the lowest in a game for MSU in 10 seasons. The Lady Bulldogs forced 27 State turnovers, marking their highest single-game turnover mark since 2015.
Georgia was the first team this season to lead LSU going into the fourth quarter (55-50). Georgia led for 25 minutes, including a nine-point advantage with seven minutes remaining, before falling in an 82-77 overtime thriller.
In each of her last two seasons at UCF, Coach ABE’s team led the nation in scoring defense. The success of her ‘matchup’ defense is now taking shape at Georgia. Georgia has forced 20 or more opponent turnovers in 17 games and has forced double-digit miscues in every contest. The team has held opponents to single-digit quarters on 18 occasions.
Alisha Lewis leads the SEC and ranks 12th nationally with a +2.52 assist-to-turnover ratio. Lewis has totaled 123 assists and just 50 turnovers this season. She has dished out five or more assists in 13 games.
Alisha Lewis dished out 23 assists in two games at the SEC Tournament. Her 12 assists against Auburn marked the best single-game performance by a Georgia player in the conference tournament since Teresa Edwards had 12 helpers in 1984 (also vs. Auburn).
Georgia signee Miyah Verse was recently named a nominee for the McDonald’s All-America Team. A native of Peoria, Arizona, Verse is a four-star recruit who landed in ESPN’s Super 60 Poll as one of the top players in the nation. She plays high school basketball at Arizona Elite Prep, which has become a national powerhouse.
Earlier this year against South Carolina, the community showed up in a big way. The attendance was listed at 6,225, marking the largest crowd for a SEC home game at UGA since 2013-14 — a span of nine seasons.
This marks the 50th season of Georgia Lady Bulldog basketball. This historic program ranks 15th all time in win percentage (.694) and 16th in total wins (1,059). Georgia ranks second nationally in NCAA tournament appearances with 36 and is still one of only three programs to boast a winning record every season since 1981.
Coach ABE has built successful programs in coaching stops at Albany, Missouri State and UCF. Her teams have won an unprecedented 70 percent of their games, an average of 22 victories per year, while capturing 16 conference titles in 17 seasons. At UCF, the 2021-22 squad won a school-record 26 games en route to the American Athletic Conference Championship, the AAC Tournament crown and a No. 7 seed in the NCAA tournament – the highest seeding in program history.
A big reason for the success of Coach ABE’s programs lies with her coaching staff – a group that has been with her nearly every step of the way. Associate head coach Tahnee Balerio played for Coach ABE at Missouri State and is entering her 13th season on Coach ABE’s staff. Assistant coach Isoken Uzamere is in her 11th year with Coach ABE, while legendary former UConn All-American Nykesha Sales is in her seventh season. Former Albany standout Ebone Henry-Harris enters her seventh year.
Georgia’s five returners and six transfers have a combined 23 NCAA tournament appearances entering this season. Diamond Battles, Brittney Smith and Alisha Lewis earned three NCAA bids at UCF. Texas transfer Audrey Warren helped her team advance to back-to-back NCAA Elite Eights.