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Olivia Sayer
Georgia head coach Katie Abrahamson-Henderson during a match against South Carolina at Stegeman Coliseum in Athens, Ga., on Monday, Jan. 02, 2023. (Photo by Zachery C. Kelly)
The Georgia women’s basketball freshman class is off to a riveting start.
The group stole the show in Georgia’s season-opening 96-52 victory over NC Central on Monday night at Stegeman Coliseum. The Bulldogs notched their highest point total since the 2021-2022 season, when they scored 97 against Gardner Webb on Nov. 11.
With Savannah Henderson, Nyah Leveretter and Fatima Diakhate all out with undisclosed injuries, head coach Katie Abrahamson-Henderson placed two freshmen, Mia Woolfolk and Trinity Turner, in the starting lineup. It was the first time Georgia started at least two freshmen in a season-opener since 1997, when the Bulldogs had Kelly Miller, Coco Miller and Elena Vishniakova in their starting five.
The group made an immediate impact, as Turner drilled two free throws a minute into the game to score Georgia’s first points of the season. She finished as the Bulldogs’ second-leading scorer with 15 points, six rebounds and three steals in her collegiate debut.
Abrahamson-Henderson, who first saw Turner play against her daughter when she was in eighth grade, said that everybody loves playing with the freshman due to her “natural ability to make passes.”
“She just has this natural ability to make passes and see things that you can’t teach,” Abrahamson-Henderson said. “She’s just got an unbelievable feel for the game, which is so fun, and defensively, she does a good job.”
Georgia was aggressive on the court all evening, leading to 13 steals. However, the Bulldogs did not let the aggressiveness turn reckless, as NC Central only stole the ball five times. Georgia did turn the ball over 14 times, which is on par with its 16.2 turnovers per game last season.
The team looked like it had developed chemistry, with several nice sequences to the basket. With five seconds left in the first half, freshman Summer Davis stole the ball from NC Central’s Victoria Morris. Davis then tossed it to Asia Avinger, who despite momentum carrying her towards the basket, flailed a bank shot to beat the buzzer. The ball left Davis’ arm with less than two seconds left, as the freshman timed the clock perfectly.
Davis shared the court with her twin sister, Indya Davis. They are the first sisters to play together for Georgia since Kara and Kim Braxton in 2004 and are the fourth set of twins to play for the program.
Abrahamson-Henderson said Summer and Indya had to “learn to play with other people,” but the two are “going to work every single day to get better.”
Georgia showcased its deeper offensive arsenal, as four players recorded double digits. Woolfolk finished as the team’s leading scorer with 18 points, which was the most by a Georgia freshman in her debut in seven years. She also shot a perfect 10-for-10 on free throws, which is an aspect of Georgia’s game that is emphasized in practice.
“At the end of every practice, I’m required to make 50 free throws before I can leave the gym,” Woolfolk said. “So I feel like that, obviously, is starting to translate onto the court.”
Woolfolk clarified that the rule applies to everyone on the team. In the Bulldogs’ first official fall practice, they ran across the court every time an attempt from the foul line fell short. The drills paid off against NC Central, as they shot over 83% on free throws, including a perfect 16-for-16 from the true freshmen.
Despite the lopsided win, Georgia can still improve. The team only shot 41% on 78 field goal attempts and 35% from the 3-point line. Abrahamson-Henderson said she thought the team was “looking at the score a little bit” in the fourth quarter “because they’re young.”
The Bulldogs will next welcome Houston to Stegeman Coliseum on Friday at 6 p.m. before taking on Furman on Sunday at 1 p.m.