Georgia Faces Kentucky in SEC Tournament First Round

GEORGIA LADY BULLDOGS Head Coach: Coach ABE Career Record: 406-186 (19th year) Record at Georgia: 34-28 (2nd year)

KENTUCKY WILDCATS Head Coach: Kyra Elzy Career Record: 60-59 (4th season) Record at UK: Same

 

GEORGIA	2023-24 STATISTICS	KENTUCKY
63.6	POINTS PER GAME	64.5
40.5	FG%	39.5
28.3	3FG%	29.3
68.9	FT%	62.9
39.0	REBOUNDS PER GAME	34.0
13.3	ASSISTS PER GAME	11.7
3.0	BLOCKS PER GAME	3.2
7.8	STEALS PER GAME	6.6
67.0	SCORING DEFENSE	75.1
39.1	FG% DEFENSE	46.5
32.3	3FG% DEFENSE	31.3
+1.3	REBOUND MARGIN	-4.5
0.8	AST - TO RATIO	0.7

 
» No. 13 seed Georgia faces the Kentucky Wildcats in the first game of the 2024 Southeastern Conference Tournament. The Lady Bulldogs and Wildcats tip off at 11 a.m. ET Wednesday.

» The Lady Bulldogs own a 52-40 all-time record in the SEC tournament and have won the title four times -- 1983, 1984, 1986 and 2001. Georgia finished runner up in the 2021 SEC Tournament.

» This marks Georgia's first time playing on Wednesday at the SEC tournament.

» The Lady Bulldogs are led by fifth-year senior forward Javyn Nicholson. Nicholson is third in the SEC with 15 double-doubles and has scored in double figures in 28 of 29 games.

» Georgia has won three-straight matchups against Kentucky, including this season's 72-65 victory in Athens. This is the first meeting between the two programs in the SEC tournament since the 2021 quarterfinals.

» Nicholson led Georgia with 23 points and 13 rebounds in Georgia's first contest against the Wildcats this season.

» Georgia played in front of 7,406 fans at Stegeman Coliseum on Feb. 29 against LSU. It marked the largest home crowd for the Lady Bulldogs since 2012.

» Georgia is in its second season under the leadership of Coach ABE. ABE's successful first year included a NCAA tournament appearance, 22 wins, and a fifth-place finish in the final SEC standings.

» The Lady Bulldogs were the only SEC squad to not have a single player enter the transfer portal this past offseason.

» Coach ABE's 12 NCAA tournament appearances rank third most among active SEC coaches, only behind Kim Mulkey (LSU) and Dawn Staley (South Carolina).
 
During Georgia's game game against LSU, 7,406 fans packed Stegeman Coliseum. It marked the largest crowd for a Georgia home game since 2012 (10,523 vs. Tennessee), spanning 11 seasons. It was Georgia's first crowd over 7,000 since the 2019 Elementary School Day Game against UCLA.
 
Georgia has played in two of the most watched games in history during the last two years. Last season's nail-biter against Iowa in the NCAA tournament was the most watched NCAA first and second round game in women's basketball history. This season's contest against South Carolina drew the largest TV audience for a women's basketball game on ABC this year.
 
Javyn Nicholson played her best basketball on the biggest stage during this season's game at No. 1 South Carolina. She scored a career-high 27 points, which was the third-best total by a SEC player against the Gamecocks this season. Georgia led South Carolina 35-28 at the half, marking the Gamecocks largest halftime deficit this year.
 
Jordan Cole posted her first career double-double with a career-high 14 points and a career-best 11 rebounds against Florida on Feb. 25. It also marked the first double-digit rebound performance of Cole's career.
 
Georgia has already signed four top-100 players in the 2024 class. Indya and Summer Davis — twin sisters from Farmington Hills, Michigan — along with Mia Woolfolk (Midlothian, Virginia) and Trinity Turner (Orlando, Fla.) signed with the Lady Bulldogs earlier this year. All four players are four star prospects and ranked in the top-100 nationally, marking the first time since 2017 the program has signed four top-100 players.

It was announced earlier this year that each of the four signees were named nominees for the prestigious McDonald's All-America Team.
 
Georgia redshirt freshman Savannah Henderson made her first appearance of the season during the team's outing against Wofford on Dec. 30. Henderson suffered a season-ending injury last year at the beginning of what was a promising start to her freshman year. She has now played in 14 games, including a career-best nine-point effort at No. 1 South Carolina.
 
Georgia head coach Katie Abrahamson-Henderson reached the 400-win mark of her career earlier this year. She is one of five active SEC coaches to record 400 or more wins.
 
Georgia is in its second season under the leadership of head coach Katie Abrahamson-Henderson. Coach ABE led the Lady Bulldogs to 22 wins – the most for the program in five years – and a NCAA tournament win against Florida State, marking Georgia's first NCAA tourney victory against a Power 5 opponent in 10 seasons. In addition, Georgia went 5-0 against rivals Florida, Auburn and Georgia Tech.

The Lady Bulldogs won seven of their last nine SEC games last year, with the only losses coming to top-5 teams South Carolina and LSU on the road.
 
Last year marked the 11th-straight season a Coach ABE led team has earned 20 wins or more. She has also guided her teams to 12 NCAA tournament appearances, which is the third-highest mark of any coach in the SEC, only behind Dawn Staley at South Carolina and Kim Mulkey at LSU.
 
Jordan Cole returns for her fifth year in the red and black. Formerly Jordan Isaacs, she changed her legal last name to Cole after her stepfather, Brian Cole, adopted her on Oct. 4, 2023.

"I've created an identity behind the last name Isaacs, who I am on the court and off the court and just me as a person. It's very safe and familiar," said Jordan, who started 25 games last season. "I hate to see it go, because it is a part of me, who I became and who I'm going to become, but I definitely think this is the next big step in my life. It's going to open new doors for me, it's going to help me put myself out there. Me and the coaching staff ... we made a joke that this is just a new version of me, like a new player, new person. There's nothing wrong with Jordan Isaacs, but there's always room for growth."
 
Georgia welcomed one true freshman this year in Arizona product Miyah Verse. A member of ESPN's Super 60 as one of the top 60 prospects nationally, Verse prepped at national powerhouse Arizona Elite Prep and Mountain Ridge High in Peoria, Ariz.

Verse was also a track star in high school, earning the state title in the discus throw. Her brother Jared is a defensive lineman on the Florida State football team.
 
Georgia led the SEC in steals last season with 10.5 per game. It marked the 10th time in the last 13 years that Coach ABE's teams have led their respective conference in steals. It was also the first occasion since the 2005-06 season – a span of 17 years – that Georgia led the SEC in steals.

Before taking the head coaching job at Georgia, Coach ABE's UCF squad led the nation in scoring defense for two straight years from 2020-22.
 
Georgia guard Chloe Chapman is the founder and CEO of Create What You Can't Have (CWUCH) -- a successful fashion merchandising company.

"CWUCH was created to represent originality. This is for people who aspire to be unique and have their own style. High quality clothing for streetwear lovers." -- Chloe Chapman
 
Miyah Verse's brother, Jared Verse, is a junior defensive lineman on the Florida State football team. The highly recruited prospect was a first-team All-American selection by The Athletic during the 2022 football season. Verse leads FSU with 4.5 sacks this year.