Georgia College Women's Basketball Welcomes Winston Salem St. Before Christmas Break

Finals are done. The stress load is lifted. And the Bobcat women's basketball team, after an 83-67 loss a couple of weeks ago to #2 Lander, returns to the hard wood to play host to Winston Salem St. and the Rams on Thursday night at the Centennial Center.

Georgia College (5-1, 0-1 PBC) will look to avenge a loss against Lander that saw the Bobcats not help their own cause. Multiple times throughout the game against the Bearcats, GC had costly turnovers to give Lander easy buckets.

But, the beauty of sports is having chance after chance to redeem yourself. And that's exactly what Georgia College will look to do against the Rams (4-3, 0-0 CIAA).

The Rams present an interesting look, much like Lander University. Although not as talented, Winston Salem will look to dribble penetrate the Bobcat defense early in the possession and often during their offensive sets. Junior guard Courtney Medley leads the team in scoring, averaging 13 per game. Behind Medley is sophomore guard Jasmine Newkirk at 12.1.

Winston Salem does not shoot well from behind the arc, dialing in at just 23.2 percent.

With that being said (or written), here are the keys for a Georgia College win:

1) LIMIT THE DRIBBLE PENETRATION: The Rams will look to dribble penetrate the Bobcat defense. Therefore, it's imperative for the Bobcats to rotate over quick enough during the defensive stand. Not doing so will allow easy layups or dishes to other players.

2) CONTINUE SHOOTING WELL: The last two games the Bobcats have shot extremely well from the field. Against St. Augustine's on Nov. 27, GC shot 47.1 percent as a team and followed that with a 43 percent performance last game against Lander University. The team is starting to gel offensively, which is nice to see.

3) POST PLAYERS: Winston Salem has four players on the roster that stand 6'0" or higher! The Bobcat post players will have to bang bodies all evening in order to be successful. This includes boxing out, contesting shots, and being a good defensive position on the floor. I wouldn't be at all surprised if head coach Mo Smith went with the "4 out, 1 in " style of offense to try and counteract the size of Winston Salem with GC's speed.

4) STAY FOCUSED: This is the last game before the ladies will have significant time off. Winning this eases the pressure going into the holiday break. A 6-1 record looks a whole lot better than 5-2 with two weeks off!


Catch the action this afternoon and on into the early evening on the video webcast! Air time is set for 5:25 et on www.pennatlantic.com

Let's hope Santa drops off an early gift in the way of a win for GC today!