The Georgia Bulldog basketball team begins a new season tonight in Athens: the first game under new head coach Mike White tips at 8 in Stegeman Coliseum. The Dogs are hosting Western Carolina. The men’s game follows a Lady Dogs game, a 6 o’clock season opening tip against Coastal Carolina, also at Stegeman. New coach Katie Abrahamson-Henderson makes her debut in what is the 50th season for women’s basketball at the University of Georgia.
From Mike Mobley, UGA Sports Communications…
The Starting Five
• UGA is 3-0 all-time in season openers versus WCU, christening its campaigns in 1994-95, 2003-04 and 2019-20.
• The Bulldogs are 84-33 all-time record in season openers, including a 38-6 at Stegeman Coliseum.
• Mike White is 8-3 all-time in season openers, including a 5-0 mark in home games at La. Tech and Florida.
• UGA’s 5 returning letterwinners accounted for 60.9 percent of the Bulldogs’ points last season.
• 5 of UGA’s 6 new transfers – Anselem, Hill, Holt, Moncrieffe & McBride – have played on NCAA Tourney teams.
The Opening Tip
The Georgia Bulldogs christen their 118th season of basketball – and do so under their 23rd head coach – on Monday evening when they host Western Carolina at historic Stegeman Coliseum.
Mike White assumes the reins in Athens following 11 highly successful campaigns at Louisiana Tech (2011-15) and Florida (2015-22). White’s teams averaged more than 22 wins over that span and reached postseason play every season possible but one, his first.
Keepin An Eye On: Entering Today’s Game . . .
Mike White is...
• 7 wins from 250 for his career
Braelen Bridges is...
• 124 points from 1,000 for his career
• 70 rebounds from 500 for his career
Jailyn Ingram is...
• 70 points from 1,500 for his career
• 16 rebounds from 700 for his career
Series History With WCU
Georgia is 8-0 all-time against Western Carolina, with every matchup taking place in Athens.
This is the fourth time the Bulldogs have opened the season against the Catamounts, also doing so in 1993-94, 2003-04 and 2019-20.
In the most recent meeting on Dec. 20 last season, Kario Oquendo’s 21-point performance and Aaron Cook’s double-double of 13 points and a career-high 12 assists led Georgia en route to an 85-79 win over the Catamounts.
Though the Bulldogs led for 36:25 of the game, the Catamounts continually kept the game interesting. Georgia went up by double figures four times in the first half before Western closed the period on 17-9 surge to pull within 35-33 at the intermission.
The Catamounts knotted the score at 44-44 with 16:23 left and then grabbed their first lead at 53-52 at the 12:01 mark.
Georgia took the lead for good on an Oquendo dunk that opened a 9-0 run to give the Bulldogs a 70-62 edge. Western clawed within four with 77 seconds left, but an Oquendo 3-pointer ended any doubt.
Scouting The Catamounts
As has become commonplace in college basketball, Western Carolina’s roster is dominated by newcomers. The Catamounts have 11 first-year players along with four returning letterwinners.
Western welcomes back a trio of starters – Vonterius Woolbright, Tyler Harris and Cam Bacote – from last year’s squad that finished 11-21 in head coach Justin Gray’s initial season in Cullowhee. Woolbright is the leading returning scorer at 9.7 ppg and dished out a team-leading 104 assists a year ago.
The newcomers are a mix comprised of six freshman, a sophomore, three juniors and two seniors.
Last Time Out
Matthew-Alexander Moncrieffe and Kario Oquendo both scored a team-high 15 points to lead Georgia in a 66-52 victory over Georgia College in the Bulldogs’ lone preseason exhibition on Nov. 1.
Freshman KyeRon Lindsay added an efficient 10 points on 5-of-6 shooting from the floor for Georgia.
“It’s early and we are all learning about each other and developing as a team, but the camaraderie was good,” head coach Mike White said. “I thought our culture was pretty good.
“We got a bunch of contributions from different guys,” White continued. “The goal, the biggest one at least for tonight, was growth, to try to get a little bit better...and we did that. Positive momentum was built. Now, let’s get better tomorrow.”
Though the Bulldogs led or were tied for more than 35 minutes, Georgia did not put the contest away until the closing moments.
GCSU cut the lead to 49-47 with 9:01 left before the Bulldogs embarked on a 7-0 run. After leading 58-52 with 3:23 remaining, Georgia closed out the contest on an 8-0 surge and ended the outing with its largest lead of the night.
Bulldogs In Season Openers
Georgia has compiled an 84-33 record in opening contests of the Bulldogs’ 117 seasons of basketball. That includes an even more impressive 38-6 mark in openers at Stegeman Coliseum.
Georgia’s most significant win in an opener at the Coliseum also was its first. In the Bulldogs’ initial opener in their current arena on Dec. 3 1964, UGA bested No. 13 North Carolina, 64-61.
Mike White In Season Openers
Mike White has an 8-3 mark in season openers during his coaching career.
White was 2-2 in initial outings at Louisiana Tech and then 6-1 in the first contests at Florida as outlined below.
White’s Season Openers
Date Opponent Score
11/13/11 Mississippi College W 92-70
11/9/12 at Texas A&M L 59-71
11/8/13 at Saint Mary’s L 70-83
11/14/14 at Southern W 85-76
11/13/15 at Navy W 59-41
1/11/16 vs. FGCU W 80-59
11/13/17 Gardner-Webb W 116-74
11/6/18 at Florida State L 60-81
11/5/19 North Florida W 74-59
12/2/20 vs. Army W 76-69
11/9/21 Elon W 74-61
A doubleheader Opener
Both Georgia’s men’s and women’s program will begin their seasons at Stegeman Coliseum on Monday evening.
The Lady Bulldogs, also under a first-year head coach, will face Coastal Carolina at 6:00 p.m. Katie Abrahamson-Henderson, aka “Coach Abe,” played for Georgia from 1985-87. She has compiled a 370-156 (.703) record over 17 seasons as a head coach and led teams to postseason bids in 14 of 16 possible seasons, including 11 NCAA Tournament appearances.
The last time the Bulldogs and Lady Bulldogs hosted a season-opening twin bill was 19 years ago on Nov. 21, 2003.
That evening Lady Bulldogs opened what culminated as an “Elite Eight” campaign by besting Georgia State, 87-48.
The Bulldogs then topped Western Carolina, 78-67, in Dennis Felton’s first outing as Georgia’s head coach. Damien Wilkins led a trio of Bulldogs in double figures with 16 points to counter a 44-point explosion from WCU’s Kevin Martin. Martin went on to score more than 12,000 points during a 12-season NBA career with Sacramento, Houston, Oklahoma City, Minnesota and San Antonio.
Simply A Slew Of Newcomers
Georgia’s roster features nine first-year players with the Bulldogs, while Western Carolina’s ledger includes 11 new Catamounts.
The makeup of those groups is all over the map.
Georgia’s newcomers include a fifth-year, one senior, three juniors, a sophomore and three freshmen. The new Catamounts are comprised by two seniors, three juniors, a sophomore and six freshmen.
Oquendo Named All-SEC
Kario Oquendo was tabbed second-team preseason All-SEC in balloting of the league’s 14 head coaches announced on Nov. 2.
Oquendo was the Bulldogs’ scoring leader, both overall and in SEC play, last season. He averaged 15.2 points overall and upped his contributions to 18.3 points per game in league play. Oquendo is the SEC’s leading returning scorer from conference action last season.
Oquendo notched 10 20-point performances, with eight of those versus league competition. He poured in a season-high 33 points at Texas A&M, equaling the highest single-game output in league play during the 2021-22 season.
The junior from Titusville, Fla. also built a reputation as one the nation’s top in-game dunkers, appearing on ESPN’s Top-10 plays three times last season – No. 3 on Nov. 16 against S.C. State, No. 6 on No. 23 versus Northwestern and No. 3 on March 1 against Tennessee.
Bridges Finds Bottom Of Net
Braelen Bridges converted on 63.4 percent of his shots from the floor last season. That not only led the SEC and ranked No. 7 nationally, it was one of the most efficient campaigns ever for UGA and in league history.
The Union Grove High School product knocked down 161 of his 264 field goals in his first year as a Bulldog in 2021-22.
Among the best single-season field goal percentages for the Bulldogs and within the SEC, Bridges’ effort ranks No. 2 and No. 17 all-time, respectively.
Bridges became the first Bulldog to pace the SEC in shooting efficiency since Lavon Mercer did so in 1980 at 61.1 percent. Interestingly, Mercer set the UGA record (64.3 percent) in 1979 but did not lead the SEC that season.
Ingram Offers Experience
According to research by Middle Tennessee’s SID staff, Jailyn Ingram is one of five seventh-year players in college basketball this season.
The Madison, Ga., native spent five seasons at Florida Atlantic before returning to his home state. Ingram played in 122 games for the Owls from 2016-21, including a redshirt campaign in 2018-19. All told, he recorded 1,334 points and 630 rebounds while at FAU.
Ingram played in nine games last season for Georgia before suffering a season-ending injury on Dec. 7 against Jacksonville. He received an additional red-shirt from the NCAA to return to the Bulldogs this season.
That makes Ingram among of quintet of players – including a well-traveled Nittany Lion – competing for a seventh college basketball season this winter as outlined below.
7th-Year Super Duper Seniors
Name Schools
Jailyn Ingram FAU, Georgia
DeAndre Dishman EKU, MTSU
Juan Munoz Longwood, Hawaii
DeJuan Clayton Coppin State, Cal
Michael Henn UC-Davis, Cal Baptist, Portland, Denver, Penn State
A “March Madness” Pedigree
Five of Georgia’s six first-year transfers played for teams that reached the 2021 or 2022 NCAA Tournaments at their previous school.
Justin Hill (Longwood) and Jusaun Holt (Alabama) both took part in the “Big Dance” last spring.
Frank Anselem (Syracuse), Madrez McBride (North Texas) and Matthew-Alexander Moncrieffe (Oklahoma State) all had tickets punched to the 2021 edition of “March Madness.”
From Tray Littlefield, UGA Sports Communications…
Opening Tip
» Georgia opens the season Monday at 6 p.m. against Coastal Carolina. The game will air live on SEC Network + and on the Georgia Bulldogs Sports Network.
» This marks the 50th season of Georgia Lady Bulldog basketball. This historic program ranks 15th all time in win percentage (.694) and 16th in total wins (1,039). Georgia ranks second nationally in NCAA tournament appearances with 35 and is still one of only three programs to boast a winning record every season since 1981.
» This is also the Lady Bulldogs’ first game under the leadership of new head coach Katie Abrahamson-Henderson. Coach ABE was named just the third head coach in Georgia history on March 26, 2022.
» An SEC-leading 10 newcomers will wear the red and black for the first time on Monday. The Lady Bulldogs’ roster features five returners, five graduate transfers, four freshman and a sophomore transfer.
» Georgia is 40-9 in season-opening games and has won 16-straight lid-lifters dating back to the 2005-06 season (L, 84-72 to No. 6 Baylor).
» The Lady Bulldogs own a 27-2 overall record in season-opening home games.
» Monday’s contest marks the first-ever matchup between Georgia and Coastal Carolina.
» The Chanticleers are in their first season under new head coach Kevin Pederson. Coach Pederson led Lander University to a 356-160 record and 13 NCAA tournament appearances during his 17-year tenure.
» 2022 American Athletic Conference Player and Defensive Player of the Year Diamond Battles was named preseason All-SEC and placed on Naismith National Player of the Year Watch List.
» Battles, one of the top graduate transfers in the nation, helped lead UCF to an unprecedented run in 2022. The Knights won the AAC regular season and tournament crowns and earned the highest NCAA tournament seeding (No. 7) in school history.
Georgia Notebook
Coach ABE Returns to Lead Georgia
Katie Abrahamson-Henderson was named just the third full-time head coach in Georgia history on March 26, 2022. Coach ABE returns to Georgia, where she played for the Lady Bulldogs from 1986-87 and was a member of the 1986 squad that captured the SEC Championship. Teammates Katrina McClain, Teresa Edwards, Lisa O’Connor and Carla Green, among others, helped lead Georgia to its third SEC. Coach ABE played in all 32 games as a freshman during that championship season.
Success at Every Stop
Coach ABE has built successful programs in coaching stops at Albany, Missouri State and UCF. Her teams have won an unprecedented 70 percent of their games, an average of 22 victories per year, while capturing 16 conference titles in 17 seasons. At UCF, the 2021-22 squad won a school-record 26 games en route to the American Athletic Conference Championship, the AAC Tournament crown and a No. 7 seed in the NCAA tournament – the highest seeding in program history.
It’s A Family
A big reason for the success of Coach ABE’s programs lies with her coaching staff – a group that has been with her nearly every step of the way. Associate head coach Tahnee Balerio played for Coach ABE at Missouri State and is entering her 13th season on Coach ABE’s staff. Assistant coach Isoken Uzamere is in her 11th year with Coach ABE, while legendary former UConn All-American Nykesha Sales is in her seventh season. Former Albany standout Ebone Henry-Harris enters her seventh year.
League-Leading 10 Newcomers
With five letterwinners back from last year’s team, the Lady Bulldogs had 10 roster spots to fill this past offseason. Georgia welcomed three players from UCF, including American Athletic Conference Player and Defensive Player of the Year Diamond Battles, Sixth Player of the Year Brittney Smith and Alisha Lewis, while also adding Texas transfer Audrey Warren, West Virginia transfer Kari Niblack and Vanderbilt transfer De’Mauri Flournoy. Four freshmen also joined the team, including Savannah Henderson, Stefanie Ingram, Fatima Diakhate and Amiya Evans.
The 10 newcomers on this year’s roster ties Kentucky for the most in the SEC.
Five Returners
A group of five players will return for another season at Georgia. Seniors Chloe Chapman, Jordan Isaacs and Javyn Nicholson join junior Zoesha Smith and sixth-year senior Malury Bates. Those five players accounted for 18.5 points and 16.1 rebounds per game last season for the Lady Bulldogs.
Georgia Players Have Postseason Success
Georgia’s five returners and six transfers have a combined 23 NCAA tournament appearances between them. Diamond Battles, Brittney Smith and Alisha Lewis earned three NCAA bids at UCF. Texas transfer Audrey Warren helped her team advance to back-to-back NCAA Elite Eights, while Kari Niblack guided West Virginia to the second round of the 2020-21 NCAA Tournament.
Dominant Defense
Under Coach ABE’s leadership, UCF led the nation in scoring defense in each of the last two seasons. The Knights held teams to just 47.8 points per game last year and just 50.5 ppg during the 2020-21 campaign. UCF held 18 opponents to 50 points or fewer with seven failing to reach 40 points during the 2021-22 season.
Success Against SEC
During Coach ABE’s six seasons in Orlando, UCF boasted a 3-2 record against teams from the SEC. The Knights downed Arkansas (52-51) and Florida (69-52) and narrowly lost to Tennessee (41-49) during last season’s remarkable run to the American Athletic Conference Championship. The win against Florida marked the first NCAA tournament win in program history.
Diamond Shines Bright
Fifth-year guard Diamond Battles developed into one of the top players in the nation during her time at UCF. She was the program’s first-ever AAC Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year and was a consensus first-team All-Conference selection. The Winter Haven, Fla., native led UCF in scoring 16 times with 23 double-figure scoring efforts last year.
Bates Back for Year Six
Malury Bates returns for her sixth year of eligibility with the Lady Bulldogs. Following a strong start to her sophomore season, Bates suffered a torn ACL in the seventh game of the year against Mercer, earning a redshirt during the 2018-19 campaign. She then gained an extra year of eligibility due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Bates scored in double figures five times a year ago and promises to play a big part in Georgia’s post rotation this season. The Roanoke, Va., native has already earned her bachelor’s degree in sociology and is pursuing a master’s degree in food and nutrition.
Smith on Impressive Streak
UCF transfer and fifth year senior Brittney Smith enters her lone season in Athens after playing some of the best basketball of her career. The Orlando, Fla., native has scored in double figures in 10 of the last 14 games, including a career-high 26 point effort against Florida in the NCAA tournament. Smith knocked in 11-of 15 field goals against the Gators in the win. The 2022 American Athletic Conference Sixth Player of the Year averaged 10.8 ppg and 6.0 rpg a season ago.
Family Business
A big part of Georgia’s impressive recruiting class this past offseason was a familiar name for Coach ABE. Savannah Henderson is the daughter of head coach Katie Abrahamson-Henderson and her husband Michael. The Orlando, Fla., native was a consensus top-50 prospect nationally as ESPN’s No. 41 overall player and No. 10 wing recruit. She prepped at Timbercreek (Orlando) and played for Central Florida Elite.
A Tradition of Success
Georgia enters the 2022-23 season one of just three program nationwide, joining Tennessee and Wisconsin-Green Bay, to have a winning season every year since 1981. The Lady Bulldogs have made appearances in 35 of 40 NCAA tournaments (second-most all time) with 20 Sweet 16s and 11 Elite Eights.
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