League coaches picked the Georgia Lady Bulldogs to finish fourth in the SEC during the 2009-10 season and also voted three Lady Dogs All-SEC in pre-season balloting released by the conference office.

The 12 SEC coaches pegged Georgia to finish behind Tennessee, LSU and Mississippi State. Seniors Ashley Houts and Angel Robinson were named to the eight-player All-SEC first team, while junior Porsha Phillips was included on the second team.

Points were awarded on a descending scale, with 12 for a first-place vote, 11 for second, etc. Tennessee garnered 112 points, edging LSU by a single point. Mississippi State was third with 100 points, followed by the Lady Bulldogs (90), Vanderbilt (86), South Carolina (56), Florida (55), Auburn (51), Arkansas (49), Ole Miss (39), Kentucky (27) and Alabama (13).

Houts and LSU’s Allison Hightower, who was voted the pre-season Player of the Year, were the only two unanimous selections to the All-SEC first team. In addition to Robinson, rounding out the first team were Cieira Ricketts of Arkansas, LaSondra Bennett of LSU, Alexis Rack of Mississippi State and Tennessee’s Angie Bjorklund and Shekinna Stricklen.

Joining Phillips on the second team were Alli Smalley of Auburn, Victoria Dunlap of Kentucky, Bianca Thomas of Ole Miss, MSU’s Armelie Lumanu and Chanel Mokango, Glory Johnson of Tennesse and Vanderbilt’s Merideth Marsh and Hannah Tuomi.

Hightower earned nine of 11 votes for SEC Player of the Year, with Houts, Robinson and Bianca Thomas securing the other three.

Georgia will open its 2009-10 season two weeks from this Sunday (on Nov. 15) against Oklahoma, a 2009 Final Four participant. The Sooners are one of four 2009 NCAA Tournament teams – along with Rutgers, Georgia Tech and Virginia – the Lady Bulldogs will host in Sunday afternoon matinees in November and December. In SEC play, five of Georgia’s eight home dates also are Sunday contests.

- Georgia Sports Communications