By John Frierson
Staff Writer

Before sitting down for a quick interview Tuesday afternoon, Georgia women’s basketball guard Rylie Theuerkauf was on the court at Stegeman Coliseum putting up shots. She was in her happy place, doing what she loves to do — and the work is paying off for her and the No. 24-ranked Lady Bulldogs.

Theuerkauf has scored in double figures in six straight games, including a career-high 26 at Mississippi State on Feb. 12. Heading into Thursday night’s big game against No. 11 Oklahoma, Theuerkauf is averaging 11.8 points per game — third-highest on the team — and shooting 43.1% from the field.

During her shooting drills, Theuerkauf said, she’ll do a mix of mid-range shots and 3-pointers from a variety of spots on the court. 

“It’s really all the shots I get in the game,” said the junior from Tenafly, N.J. “I’ll try to get flares, corners, transition, and then I’ll go to my pull-up shots.”

As a freshman at Wake Forest during the 2023-24 season, Theuerkauf averaged 3.8 points per game. Last season, with 23 starts in 29 games, she led the Demon Deacons with 12.0 points per game; she made 34 3-pointers, dished out 42 assists and had 24 steals. 

After transferring to Georgia, where she’s playing with one of the best shooters in the SEC in guard Dani Carnegie, Theuerkauf has scored in double figures 15 times in 26 games, with nine games of 15 points or more. She’s shooting a team-high 41.8% from 3-point range this season.

Theuerkauf has already hit 56 3s this season, second on the team to Carnegie’s 75, but neither player is limited to just launching bombs from the outside. Both will drive and attack the lane if they can, and both draw a lot of fouls. Carnegie leads the team with 92 free-throw attempts, and Theuerkauf is second with 77.

In Georgia’s 76-74 win over No. 5 Vanderbilt last Sunday, Carnegie hit five 3s and scored a game-high 29 points, while Theuerkauf hit a pair of 3s and finished with 10 points and two assists.

“Dani was on fire last game,” Theuerkauf said. “I mean, every shot I could give to her, I would; she wasn’t missing. I think it’s really nice that we can play off each other like that.

“We have a lot of great shooters, not just me and Dani, so it’s nice when someone’s hot, and we do a good job of recognizing it.”

It was Theuerkauf who was red-hot in the game at Mississippi State. She went 8-for-12 from the field and 5-for-7 from 3-point range. It was a great performance, maybe her best overall as a Lady Bulldog, but Theuerkauf didn’t take much satisfaction from it since it came in a disappointing 85-71 loss.

“I wish that had come in a win,” she said. “I wish I could have done something more for us to win. It’s definitely nice to be in the zone and feel the shot like that, and I think Missouri was more fun for me because we got a win in that zone.”

Theuerkauf scored 22 points in Georgia’s 85-66 rout of the Mizzou on Feb. 8, her second-highest point total of the season. She said she doesn’t know pregame if she’s going to be in the zone, but she approaches every game the same way.

“I go into each game with the same mindset of, I’m going to shoot great today,” she said.

And there have been plenty of times already this season when Theuerkauf has, with more to come.

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.