The Red and Black

Issue date: 2/28/08 Section: Sports

Media Credit: RICHARD HAMM Tasha Humphrey poses for a portrait at Stegeman Coliseum on Wednesday before her last home game on Sunday. Humphrey also was named SEC player of the week this week. [Click to enlarge]

"This isn't Georgia basketball."

On numerous occasions throughout an up-and-down season, one of several different Lady Bulldogs has spoken that exact phrase.

Among those is one of the most decorated players ever to play in Athens: senior forward Tasha Humphrey.

Humphrey's senior campaign, a bounce-back effort from a disappointing junior season marred by a six-game suspension, has been an interesting journey.

For much of the season, Humphrey has been ascending the ranks of the all-time Georgia greats while her team has fallen in the Southeastern Conference standings.

Entering the final week of the regular season, the two seem to be pointing in the same direction.

"Everybody has finally gotten on the same page," Humphrey said. "I think collectively, right now, as a basketball team, we all have joined together and know what it takes to be successful."

The No. 22 Lady Bulldogs (20-7, 6-5 SEC) have won three straight games for the first time since a 13-game winning streak to begin their season, and Humphrey has recorded four straight double-doubles.

Head coach Andy Landers indicated Humphrey's play this season is in part a realization of her mission that began four years ago.

"(She) has gone about the business of climbing those record lists and ascending to the top," Landers said. "And she has done that in the scheme of team things."

That scheme is paying off as of late, as Humphrey passed Kelly Miller and Katrina McClain in Sunday's win over Auburn to move to second in the all-time Lady Bulldog scoring ranks.

Fellow senior Megan Darrah is posed for a milestone of her own, as she is three points shy of becoming the 29th Lady Bulldog to score 1,000 points in her career.

For two seniors preparing for the last week of the regular season and their final home game, milestones and sentimentality have taken a backseat.

"The thing that keeps me focused is the win," Humphrey said. "If your mind starts wandering and you start getting all these emotions involved in the game, you lose sight of what's important."

Most important is the Lady Bulldogs seem to have put a 3-6 stretch of play behind them and have secured Landers' 24th 20-win season in 29 years in Athens.

Twenty wins is considered more of a starting point than an end goal in recent Lady Bulldog history, but Landers still feels the best may be yet to come.

"I think we all sense we might be embarking on the best time of all in our year," Landers said. "I'm talking about the way we might be able to play this thing out, and I think Tasha wants to be a driving piece of that."

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