Georgia women’s basketball confident entering SEC Tournament
After a tough 29-point loss to No. 4 Texas on Feb. 26, the Georgia women’s basketball team knew it had to respond in a hurry.
The Bulldogs went from committing 24 turnovers versus the Longhorns to a dominant win against the Gators on senior night, polishing off the regular season on a high note entering the SEC Tournament. Its 22 wins were the most since coach Katie Abrahamson-Henderson’s first season in 2022-23.
“I feel like we’re in a really good spot,” junior guard Riley Theuerkauf said of where Georgia stands heading into the postseason. “I think we’ve grown in almost every aspect, from on to off the court. I think, honestly, we became a lot more consistent, I think defensively and offensively. I think everyone knows each other’s roles right now, and we know what we’re going to bring to the floor, and we trust one another.
“I think you really saw that against Florida, how we all played a big role in Florida, and we all played. And I think that’s, like, the biggest thing about our team, especially for the tournament: 1 through 12 can play any day.”
As a No. 8 seed, Georgia (22-8) earned a first-round bye in the SEC Tournament and will face the winner of Arkansas (16 seed) and No. 17-ranked Kentucky (9 seed), which tips off at 11 a.m. Wednesday in Greenville, South Carolina. The Bulldogs will play 11 a.m. Thursday, and the winner of that game will face No. 1 seed South Carolina at noon Friday.
The No. 22-ranked Bulldogs are a fairly young team, with eight newcomers (five transfers and three freshmen) this season.
They’ve gotten major contributions from Dani Carnegie, a sophomore guard who transferred from Georgia Tech and now leads Georgia in scoring at 18.1 points per game. But they have three more players averaging double-digit scoring: junior forward Mia Woolfolk (13.5 points per game), Theuerkauf (11.7), who transferred from Wake Forest, and sophomore guard Trinity Turner (11).
The Bulldogs have versatility in what lineup they can roll out and have gotten contributions throughout the roster: Abrahamson-Henderson pointed to freshman Jocelyn Faison, who has come off the bench to give them a defensive boost.
“I think it’s still strength in numbers, to be honest,” Abrahamson-Henderson said of the team’s identity. “I think they finally bought into that, you know, like, we have a lot of people we can play at different positions in different times, and depending on what the other team’s doing against us. … Every game is different. Kentucky, they’re huge, so we’re gonna have to play big lineups. You know, when we played Arkansas, we could play smaller lineups.”
The daily grind of physical SEC play helped the team buy into that philosophy, Abrahamson-Henderson said. It’s a new experience for all but Georgia’s small returning cast from last year.
“Only four of them have played here, right, at this tournament, know what it’s about, know what it’s like,” Abrahamson-Henderson said. “So we’ve just got to prepare them as best we can, get them ready as best we can.”
One of those four is Woolfolk, who was named to the SEC All-Freshman team last season and leads the team in rebounding at 5.6 per game this season.
Locking in and getting a second wind for the postseason isn’t a challenge when you know a loss could be cause for elimination, according to Woolfolk.
“Now entering the postseason, it’s like, tiredness doesn’t matter,” Woolfolk said. “It’s, ‘Do you want to keep playing or not?’”
Georgia (8-8 in conference play) has notched a handful of marquee wins, avenging a 79-62 loss to No. 15 Ole Miss on Jan. 1 with an 82-59 win versus the Rebels on Jan. 18, defeating No. 11 Kentucky 72-67 on Jan. 24 in Lexington and edging No. 5 Vanderbilt 76-74 on Feb. 15.
Ultimately, the Bulldogs enter the postseason with confidence, Theuerkauf said.
“We’ve had big goals since the beginning of the season, and we’ve just really talked about how far we can go,” Theuerkauf said. “… I think we have to remember how great we are when we all play good the same day. And I think it’s just everybody locking in for both the SEC and NCAA Tournament. I mean, we do have a lot of confidence, but at the same time, we’re still working to get there.”
About the Author
Sarah Spencer, a Georgia native and UGA alum, serves as a general assignment and features writer for sports. She previously covered the Hawks from 2019-22.
