Women?s Basketball Faces Georgia In SEC Tournament
3/5/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - The Alabama women's basketball team (8-21, 1-13 SEC) will open SEC Tournament play against No. 22 ranked Georgia (21-8, 8-6 SEC) on Thursday, March 6 at 6:30 p.m. in the Sommet Center in Nashville, Tenn. The Crimson Tide checks in as the No. 12 seed while the Lady Bulldogs sport the No. 5 seed. The game will be broadcasted on the Raycom Sports Network.
Georgia has owned the series against its long-time rivals from Alabama. The Lady Bulldogs own a 26-9 advantage in the all-time series and have won the last 13 over the Tide. UA's last win over Georgia was on Feb. 8, 1998 in Tuscaloosa. The Lady Bulldogs defeated the Crimson Tide in Athens, Ga. earlier in the season by the score of 71-53. Georgia holds a 4-2 all-time mark against Alabama in neutral site games. Head coach Stephany Smith is 0-6 in her career against the Lady Dawgs and 0-3 as the head coach at the Capstone.
Alabama enters the league tournament as one of the bottom four seeds for the 10th straight year. The last time the Tide earned a first-round bye at the event was in 1998, which was also the team's last appearance in the SEC Tournament Championship game. UA owns a 24-28 mark in SEC Tournament games and is currently on a three-game losing skid at the championship. Alabama lost to Ole Miss in the first round of last year's tournament 78-49 in Duluth, Ga., and fell to Vanderbilt 86-54 event in Little Rock, Ark. the year before. Only five active players have SEC Tournament experience. Smith is 14-7 in her career at conference tournaments and has won three conference tournament titles in her coaching career.
Lady Dogs are the No. 5 seed after finishing 8-6 in league action and will face No. 12 seed. Georgia is 21-8 overall and at No. 23 and No. 21 in this week??s AP and ESPN/USA Today polls, respectively. Tasha Humphrey, who on Monday became just the ninth four-time first-team All-SEC selection by league coaches, leads the Lady Bulldogs with averages of 17.3 points and 9.1 rebounds per game. In addition, second-team All-SEC Ashley Houts also averages double figures in the scoring column at 11.7 points per game and leads Georgia in both assists (4.6 apg) and steals (2.8 spg).
The Lady Dogs sport a 39-24 (.619) all-time record in SEC Tournament action. The SEC lists UGA as 37-24. UGA recognize a couple consolation wins in 1981 and 1982 missing from their totals. Georgia has won four SEC Tournaments, capturing crowns in 1983, 1984, 1986 and 2001, and has advanced to the semifinals or better of seven of the last nine tourneys.
The Southeastern Conference announced its 2008 postseason awards Tuesday with Tierney Jenkins (Mt. Juliet, Tenn.) being tabbed to the All-Freshman Team. Jenkins became the first Tide player to be named to the All-Freshman squad since Kate Mastin earned the accolade in 2004. Jenkins put together one of the top freshman campaigns in the conference this season.
The SEC named junior Camilla Blands (Naerum, Denmark) to the SEC Community Service Team. Blands made time on her busy schedule to frequently go to T-Town Paws animal shelter in Tuscaloosa to walk the dogs and play with the animals. Blands, who only saw limited action as a sophomore put together a solid junior campaign. The Naerum, Denmark native is third on the team during conference play with 7.9 points per game. She is second on the team with 27 three-pointers made and 30.4 minutes played per contest.
The duo of Caitlin Hollifield and Varisia Raffington has been intrical pieces off the bench for Stephany Smith. Against No. 23 Vanderbilt the duo tied their career-highs in points with Raffington scoring 11 and Hollifield pouring in 10. Raffington has taken advantage of SEC play. The newcomer has improved her overall play by pouring in 4.9 points per game. Against Ole Miss Raffington recorded a career-best 11 points on 5-of-8 shooting in 22 minutes of action. Against Vanderbilt the newcomer also scored 11 points on 4-for-6 shooting. In the last three games Raffington has paced the Tide with 10 points per clip.
If Alabama were to beat Georgia in the opening round the Tide would then face the No. 4 seed Kentucky Wildcats. Tipoff would be Friday, March 7 at 6:30 p.m. in the Sommet Center.
