Elite Eights are nothing new for Georgia women’s basketball or coach Andy Landers. But they’re new for the 13 players that make up the latest edition of the Lady Bulldogs. They’ll be in unchartered waters when Georgia faces Cal in the NCAA Spokane Regional final tonight.
The Bulldogs’ last appearance in the Elite Eight round came in 2004. Georgia’s seniors were in still middle school at the time.
“It’s really special for us as a senior class,” Anne Marie Armstrong, a forward from Norcross, told reporters in Spokane. “We’ve been here since freshman year putting in the work and going to meetings and talking about how we were going to change the program and turn it around back to where it was before we got here. It means so much more now, and we don’t want this to be our last game.”
Thanks to those seniors, Georgia will be in position to make its first Final Four run in 14 years. The 14th-ranked Bulldogs (28-6) and No. 6 Cal (31-3) battle to advance to New Orleans tonight at 9:30. The game will be televised by ESPN.
The Bulldogs have been to five Final Fours, but none since 1999. And they’ve been kicking down obstacles right and left on this run. Georgia defeated long time tournament nemesis Stanford 61-59 to get here.
For Landers, who has 905 career victories, it has been a long time coming.
“We were still going to NCAA tournaments every year,” Landers said. “. We were even advancing. But we had slipped inside our own house… . Georgia basketball was broken. But it wasn’t shattered.”
Georgia is second all-time with 30 NCAA tournament berths and this is its 11th time in the Elite Eight. Conversely, Cal is making its first appearance in this round.
The Bulldogs will be looking to slow down the Bears’ up-tempo pace. Led by 5-9 guard Layshia Clarendon (16.1 ppg), Cal averages 72.5 points per game.
Georgia is led by its senior triumvirate of Jasmine Hassell, Jasmine James and Armstrong. Hassell, a first-team All-SEC selection, paces Georgia in scoring (12.9 ppg) and rebounding (6.2 rpg). James, a point guard, chips in 11.0 points and 3.8 assists a game.
The Bulldogs also start two freshmen in Shacobia Barbee and Tiara Griffin. In three tournament games, Barbee is averaging team-highs of 14.0 ppg and 8.0 rpg.
“Night in and night out, the SEC is very competitive and we’ve had to play a lot of teams with athleticism like Cal,” James said. “That’s a great thing for us. I definitely think the SEC has prepared us.”
Georgia has been especially resilient at the end of games. It came from behind in the final minutes against both Stanford and Iowa State. Cal defeated LSU 63-53 in the regional semifinal.
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