The Red and Black

Issue date: 3/21/08 Section: Sports

Media Credit: JAKE DANIELS Senior Tasha Humphrey goes to catch the ball as Tennessee's Nickyin Anosike tries to intercept on March 2. [Click to enlarge]

After the women's basketball NCAA Tournament seeds were announced on Monday, the scramble for scouting information between eighth-seeded Georgia and ninth-seeded Iowa began.

Twelve years removed from the last game between the two programs, Georgia and Iowa certainly had plenty of questions about each other as they prepared for Sunday's first round game in Norfolk, Va.

After watching film on the Big Ten co-champion Lady Hawkeyes (21-10, 13-5 Big Ten), head coach Andy Landers had a better idea of what to expect.

"They're very big, but we're not small," Landers said. "I don't like having to match up with three kids on the perimeter that can drop threes on you. That's going to keep us on our toes, but the matchups are good."

Iowa senior Johanna Solverson, a forward averaging 10.4 points per game, down played any advantage in height that the Iowa starting five would have.

"I don't really see Georgia as being too small either," Solverson said. "It'll be different for us, because many of the guards in the Big Ten don't have as much height."

The Georgia (22-9, 9-7 SEC) pedigree has drawn a considerable amount of attention from Iowa head coach Lisa Bluder.

"It surprised us that Georgia is an eight (seed)," Bluder said.

"They're definitely the toughest eight seed there is. It's a great program with a great history."

The 2007-08 campaign for the Lady Bulldogs has been anything but historic.

Georgia received its lowest seed since entering the 2002 NCAA Tournament as a No. 10 seed. The team is looking to avoid a first-round exit, which would be the program's first since that same year.

"We just came off an excellent practice," Landers said on Tuesday.

"It's amazing to me how many good practices we've had. We practice better than we play and I just have to believe they're going to carry that over to the floor."

For senior forward Tasha Humphrey, it should be easier to transfer results in practice to the game as fatigue is no longer a factor.

"The energy level at practice has been a lot higher because we're capable of pushing each other and going hard because we know we're not going to play four games in four days," Humphrey said. "I think we all know what our motivation is and Sunday is when our journey starts."

It has been a recurring problem for Georgia as to which caliber team will take the floor on any given night. The team is just 9-9 over its last 18 games.

Landers remains hopeful that the team might finally turn the elusive corner from practice to the game.

"Can something happen somewhere along the way, like the burning bush in front of you that will say that we're in good shape? Yeah, that can happen," Landers said.

The Lady Bulldogs will at least be looking for a spark to advance past Iowa at the Ted Constant Convocation Center Sunday at 2:30 p.m.

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