Georgia

It wasn't pretty, but Georgia coach Andy Landers is glad his No. 5 Lady Bulldogs were able to pull out victory over host Tennessee Tech. "It was tough to come in to a place like Tech and come out with a win," Landers said yesterday after the 77-72 victory. "They did a really good job. " Georgia (11-1), which has won four straight, took the lead for good on a three-pointer by Camille Murphy with 11:27 remaining in the game, making it 48-46. Georgia led by four when the lights in the arena went out with 3:52 remaining.

Reserve center Shala Crawford enjoyed a career game against overmatched Hampton. Crawford had a career-high 13 points and 15 rebounds in fifth-ranked Georgia's 107-46 rout of visiting Hampton last night. "This game meant a lot because of the way we played our last game here. I didn't want people to underestimate what we can do," Crawford said. A week ago, Georgia lost its Southeastern Conference opener to Louisiana State, 80-74. Sophomore center Tawana McDonald led Georgia (10-1)

Georgia defensive back Brandon Williams was acquitted yesterday by a Superior Court jury in Athens, Ga., of the alleged sexual assault of a female student in another athlete's dorm room. Williams, 21, was charged with rape, aggravated assault and aggravated battery following the Jan. 12 incident. Georgia basketball player Steve Thomas, also accused of rape and aggravated assault, will be tried in October or November. Tony Cole, Thomas' teammate, was charged with aggravated assault and likely will be tried after Christmas.

Don't tell Jan van Breda Kolff and his Vanderbilt Commodores the National Invitation Tournament is for losers. Dan Langhi scored a career-high 19 points off the bench as visiting Vanderbilt notched its first 20-win season in four years with a 72-68 victory over Wake Forest in the second round last night. "I said our younger players are going to benefit the most from this and a guy like Dan Langhi has gotten better and better," said Van Breda Kolff. "We told our guys [the NIT]

Georgia's football team will spend the next two years on probation but escaped major sanctions yesterday when the NCAA took the unusual step of accepting the school's self-imposed penalties. The Bulldogs, who already had agreed to reduce their scholarships next year and cut their ties to prominent south Florida booster Dan Calloway, remain eligible to play in bowl games and appear on television. The university was cited mainly for its relationship with Calloway, a Palm Beach County, Fla., youth sport organizer who provided cash, meals and other benefits to high school players who were being recruited by Georgia.

Charlayne Hunter-Gault, national correspondent for PBS' "MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour," carved out a place for herself in American history in 1961 when she became the first black woman to be admitted to the University of Georgia. In the current issue of TV Guide, she talks about her experiences at the school she graduated from in 1963. " 'Char-layne,' they kept calling out from every direction, drawing my name as only Southerners can, so perfect in their pronunciation, so familiar and yet so distant.

University of Georgia junior Blaise Kozeniewski of Highland High has been a key addition to the Bulldogs' baseball team, the defending national champion. Kozeniewski, who had starred the last two years for Camden County College, started in Georgia's first seven games. During that span, he hit .212, but led the Bulldogs with eight runs, and was tied for the lead in home runs, with two, and tied for second in RBIs, with six. North Carolina State lefthander Shawn Senior of Cherry Hill West became the first freshman pitcher to start on opening day for the Wolfpack.

Georgia suspended starting forward Steve Thomas and backup guard Tony Cole yesterday while university police investigated a report that a female student was raped in a dormitory. The suspensions occurred shortly before the 20th-ranked Bulldogs, who moved into the national rankings two days earlier for the first time this season, lost, 77-72, to No. 16 Alabama in a key Southeastern Conference game. "The situation was probably a distraction, but you can't really tell," Georgia coach Jim Harrick said.

Less than three weeks after receiving a vote of confidence from the athletic director, Georgia basketball coach Ron Jirsa was fired yesterday. Jirsa, who never held a head coaching job before he was picked to succeed Tubby Smith in 1997, had a two-year record of 35-30, including a disappointing 15-15 mark this season. Athletic director Vince Dooley, speaking during a hastily called news conference, said the main reason for the change was the Bulldogs' poor finish. Georgia lost its final four games and 11 of the last 14 to wind up at .500.

When former United Nations ambassador and civil rights leader Andrew Young campaigns for governor in the white neighborhoods of rural Georgia, he doesn't extend his hand first for a handshake. He doesn't slap white people on the shoulder or kiss their babies. "There's good reason. When I was growing up you could get killed for that, literally," said the black, 58-year-old former Atlanta mayor. His voice showed not anger, but an eagerness to make the issue clear. "Maybe you don't ever outgrow some of those cautions.

Jasmine Hassell scored six of her 13 points in the final three minutes and fourth-seeded Georgia reached the NCAA women's regional finals for the first time since 2004 with a 61-59 victory over top-seeded Stanford on Saturday night in Spokane, Wash. The Bulldogs (28-6) overcame three major scoring droughts, including falling behind, 9-0, to end the Cardinal's hopes of reaching the Final Four for the sixth straight year. Jasmine James led Georgia with 16 points, including a pair of free throws with 23.5 seconds left that gave the Bulldogs a 60-56 lead.

JUANITA G. HALL had a lonely childhood, and she grew up yearning for a large family with happy descendants gathered together for mutual comfort and caring. She got her wish. She had eight children, who went on to have 30 grandchildren and more than 30 great- and great-great-grandchildren - five generations of love. And Juanita, the lonely child from Georgia, was the proud matriarch. "I never wanted my children to be lonely growing up the way I was as a child," she would say. Juanita Hall, a political junkie who liked to keep up with current events, a spectacular cook in the Southern tradition and a woman whose primary focus was always on caring for her family, died Thursday of complications of a stroke.

SCRATCH ANOTHER theory from the Chip Kelly defensive coordinator hiring process sweepstakes. This time, it's the thought that Kelly was just waiting for national signing day to arrive, so he could announce the hiring of a college coordinator who didn't want to leave his current program in the lurch at a crucial time. (One who presumably wouldn't mind leaving signees in the lurch.) Georgia defensive coordinator Todd Grantham has been mentioned most prominently. The Eagles might end up hiring Grantham, but in speaking with reporters Wednesday in Athens, Ga., Grantham said he hasn't gotten to the point with any NFL team where "I feel like I have to contractually say something," Macon.com reported.

ADAIRSVILLE, Ga. - A massive storm system raked the Southeast on Wednesday, spawning tornadoes and dangerous winds that overturned cars on a major Georgia interstate and demolished homes and businesses, killing at least two people. In northwest Georgia, the storm system tossed vehicles on Interstate 75 onto their roofs. The highway was closed for a time, and another main thoroughfare remained closed until crews could safely remove downed trees and power lines. WSB-TV in Atlanta aired footage showing an enormous funnel cloud bearing down on Adairsville, about 60 miles northwest of Atlanta, as the storm ripped through the city's downtown area.

There was no need for a half-court heave on Saturday. Drexel's defense made certain it wouldn't come to that again. The Dragons gave their best defensive performance of the season in a 68-57 win over Georgia State at the Daskalakis Center. Drexel's latest victory isn't likely to make any national highlight reels - as did their previous win, a 55-52 defeat of Hofstra on Frantz Massenat's 50-foot buzzer-beater. But for a team trying to overcome a poor start by grinding out conference wins, it may end up being more important because of how it was accomplished.

ATLANTA - The turbulence the first 2 months of the season for Drexel was left behind in a poised and efficient 6-minute stretch to start the second half Wednesday night at Georgia State. The Dragons, who came into their first Colonial Athletic Association game of the season with a 4-8 record, played like a team not worried about straightening itself out. Drexel made six of its first eight shots after intermission, a four-point halftime lead grew to 10 points, and the Dragons rolled to a 77-60 victory.

ORLANDO, Fla. - Aaron Murray wanted nothing more this week than to send Georgia's senior class out with a game to remember. The junior quarterback provided a record-setting performance to make it a reality. Murray threw five touchdown passes to set a Georgia bowl record, including two in the fourth quarter, as the sixth-ranked Bulldogs beat No. 23 Nebraska, 45-31, in the Capital One Bowl on Tuesday. Murray shook off a pair of first-half interceptions, including one returned for a touchdown, and passed for 427 yards - also a Bulldogs bowl record - against the nation's top-ranked passing defense.

Southern California was ranked No. 1 at the beginning of the season, and Matt Barkley was a strong contender for the Heisman Trophy. The year ended with Barkley on the sideline as the Trojans lost to Georgia Tech in the Sun Bowl in El Paso, Texas. Tevin Washington threw a touchdown pass and ran for another score to lead the Yellow Jackets (7-7) to a 21-7 victory on Monday in front of a crowd of 47,922 at Sun Bowl Stadium. Barkley, the first three-time captain in team history, injured his right shoulder in a loss to UCLA and was not cleared to play.

Ainsworth Mallett and his family were returning home to Georgia from a Christmas visit with his mother in Connecticut when their car was rammed from behind by a tractor-trailer Thursday morning on the New Jersey Turnpike. Mallett, 51; his wife, Jacqueline, 49; and their 12-year-old son, Drew, died in the wreckage, as did the family's dog. The couple's 18-year-old daughter, Nicole, survived with minor injuries. As the investigation into the crash in Mount Laurel continues, those who knew the family were trying to come to terms with the tragedy.