The No. 13 Oklahoma Sooners visited Stegeman Coliseum on Sunday afternoon and presented a formidable challenge for an inexperienced Lady Bulldogs squad looking to get the 2009-10 season off to a winning start.

The home crowd witnessed an impressive opening performance from the Lady Dogs (1-0) as they took down the Sooners (1-1) by a score of 62-51.

Opening the season with a win against a top-25 opponent certainly bodes well for Georgia, and head coach Andy Landers knows what this victory means to his team.

“We got seven new kids, we got a group of veterans that weren’t real happy with the way they played last year and all of the sudden you get ranked 21st,” Landers said. “It kind of validates what we’ve been doing, what we’ve been working on . our mission right now is to change. We want to be more aggressive, we want to be tougher, we want to be more competitive, we want to put capital ‘W’s’ in front of wins.”

In a season where Landers is desperately searching for contributions from anyone but his top-three players, true freshman guard Jasmine James may have solidified herself as a solid fourth option following an impressive showing on Sunday afternoon.

“Last week the exhibition game helped me get ramped up . practices and everything have been helping me to ramp up,” James said. “However I could come in and contribute, whether that was scoring or rebounding . it doesn’t take experience to hustle so just get out there and hustle and do what I can do to help out the team.”

James and senior point guard Ashley Houts led the way for Georgia as both players scored seven points to send the Lady Dogs into the locker room with a 22-18 lead.

“The reason that JJ (James) is on the floor more than the other [freshman] is because she has an ability set similar to Ashley’s,” Landers said. “She can score, she can do a lot of things that help our basketball team but the most impressive thing is that she stepped out there in her first college game and she did it . she didn’t look scared, she didn’t look intimidated.”

Landers isn’t the only one who is happy with the youngster’s Sunday performance. Starting point guard Ashley Houts, who played all 40 minutes against Oklahoma, is certainly excited about James’ ability to come off the bench and contribute.

“Her play and experience that she’s gotten so far has been very important,” Houts said. “The fact that she can come in and be versatile and play one, two or three is crucial because she can just do a lot of things and we’re just excited about that.”

Houts and James combined to shoot 46 percent from the field in the first half as senior center Angel Robinson and junior forward Porsha Phillips grabbed five rebounds apiece to maintain a strong post presence for Georgia.

Following a low-scoring first half in which Georgia shot just 31 percent from the field, the Lady Dogs stormed out in the second half on an 11-2 run to take a commanding 33-20 lead.

A lead that would disappear quickly following a 13-5 Oklahoma run that pulled the Sooners to within five points near the halfway point of the second half.

After the Sooners tied the game at 43-43, Georgia increased its defensive pressure and forced the action on the offensive end as the Lady Dogs scored six quick points to regain some breathing room at 49-43.

Georgia and Oklahoma would continue to trade baskets for the next five minutes as the Lady Dogs maintained their lead up until the 90 second mark before James stepped to the free-throw line and knocked down two freebies to extend the Georgia lead to 60-51.

Two more Georgia free throws added to the final tally of 62-51, as the Sooners failed to score in the last two minutes of the game.

Phillips and James ended with 15 points apiece to lead Georgia on the offensive end, while Phillips also led the Lady Dogs with 12 rebounds while shooting 78 percent from the field.