By John Frierson
Staff Writer

There was a lot to see inside Stegeman Coliseum on Sunday afternoon. On the court, the Georgia women’s basketball team jumped on No. 16 Ole Miss early and controlled the game throughout, winning 82-59. All around the court, and on it during breaks in the action, dozens of Lady Bulldogs from the past were hugging, chatting, taking photos, and getting celebrated for their many achievements.

“A lot of people are surprised and really impressed by that” big reunion, said former Georgia head coach Andy Landers, who won 862 games in his 36 seasons, led the Lady Bulldogs to the Final Four five times, and was inducted into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame in 2007. He retired in 2015.

“We lived a lot of experiences together, and whether it’s Team A or Team B, they all understand that about each other and feel connected.”

Among the program legends in attendance were Hall of Famers Teresa Edwards, Janet Harris and Katrina McClain, as well as 1996 National Player of the Year Saudia Roundtree and 2005 National Freshman of the Year Tasha Humphrey. Harris is Georgia’s all-time leading scorer with 2,641 points, Humphrey is second (2,272) and McClain is third (2,195). Georgia’s 1995 and ’96 Final Four teams were recognized on the court during a timeout in the third quarter.

Meanwhile, current Lady Bulldog Dani Carnegie was putting on a show for the legends and everyone else. The sophomore guard hit five 3-pointers on her way to scoring a career-high 32 points. She was 11 of 17 from the field, 5 of 8 from 3-point range, and also had a career-high 11 rebounds.

Powered by Carnegie’s huge game, the Lady Bulldogs (16-3, 2-3 SEC) comfortably handled an Ole Miss team that came in with a record of 16-3 overall and 3-1 in SEC play. Georgia led 19-9 after the first quarter, 42-27 at the half, and continued to cruise from there.

Early on, it seemed like every time Landers got a hug from a legend behind one of the baskets, the Lady Bulldogs did something good. He got a hug from Harris, and Carnegie scored to make it 10-4. After Edwards came up and gave him a hug from behind, Savannah Henderson hit a 3 from the right corner for a 13-4 lead. After Landers and McClain shared a hug, Trinity Turner drove in the lane and hit a short jumper to make it 15-6.

There are so many things for Landers and the Lady Bulldog program to be proud of, from SEC titles and Final Four appearances to Edwards and McClain’s Olympic stardom on numerous U.S. teams. But it’s the people who have made up the program over the years that have always meant the most.

“I think we did a lot of things right, but at the top of the list of right things we did was we always sought out good people in recruiting,” he said. “We walked away from some great players that we didn’t think were a fit, and I think what you see today is the end result of having recruited a lot of good people over a long period of time.

“They appreciate what the university has done for them, the experiences that it allowed them to have, and what basketball provided for them. There’s a great appreciation from them for Georgia.”

Landers was named Georgia’s full-time head coach in April 1979, and now some of his former players have grandchildren. “How old does that make me?” Landers joked. Old enough that one of his former players, Katie Abrahamson-Henderson, who played at Georgia from 1985-87 before transferring to Iowa, is now in her fourth season coaching the Lady Bulldogs and in her 20th season as a head coach.

Coach ABE’s squad played one of its best games of the season on Sunday. The Lady Bulldogs shot 54.7% from the field, hit 8 of 16 3-point attempts, and led for all but 76 seconds of the 23-point win. It was an impressive performance in front of a great crowd that included some of the best to ever take the floor for the Lady Bulldogs.

All of them had plenty of reasons to walk out of the Steg with big smiles on their faces.

 

Assistant Sports Communications Director John Frierson is the staff writer for the UGA Athletic Association and curator of the ITA Men’s Tennis Hall of Fame. You can find his work at: Frierson Files.