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.

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.

Georgia's athletic trio of Deana Nolan and the Miller twins supplied the points, but coach Andy Landers wanted to talk defense after his team's home victory. "The first 20 minutes of the game, our defense was spectacular," Landers said after No. 3 Georgia beat No. 20 Mississippi State yesterday, 83-67. "We executed what we wanted to execute on defense almost without exception in the first half. " Mississippi State Coach Sharon Fanning readily agreed. "They limited our number of chances from the field," she said.

Home By Toni Morrison Alfred A. Knopf. 147 pp. ($24)   Reviewed by Amy Driscoll   Mention Toni Morrison's name and the superlatives follow. Nobel Prize. Pulitzer Prize. This spring, she'll add Presidential Medal of Freedom winner to the list. But in her new book, a slim volume titled simply Home that Morrison will discuss Friday night at the Free Library of Philadelphia, the power comes not from the world-famous author's name printed on the cover but from the story within.

Georgia State is leaving the Colonial Athletic Association for the Sun Belt Conference, school officials announced Monday. The school will begin playing a conference schedule for the 2013-14 academic year. Villanova and Delaware are in the CAA for football; Drexel and Delaware play CAA basketball. Georgia State has been a CAA member since 2005, although it did not have an active football program until 2010. The team will join CAA football for 2012, in what will turn out to be its only season.

Because of the Flyers-Penguins playoff series, the Soul's next game has been moved up a day to Saturday. Kickoff is 6:05 p.m. The Flyers and Penguins will play Game 3 on Sunday at the Wells Fargo Center. Customers holding tickets for the rematch of ArenaBowl XXII on Sunday will be able to use them on Saturday. If ticket-holders cannot make the rescheduled date, tickets will be valid for any remaining Soul home game, but they must be exchanged at the box office. Ticket exchanges can be made at the Wells Fargo Center box office during business hours.

The Soul will be shorthanded for Saturday's visit to Georgia. Star wide receiver Donovan Morgan fractured his left wrist in Sunday's loss to Cleveland and will be out 4 to 6 weeks, according to Soul GM Tom Goodhines. Reserve wide receiver Emory Sammons will be activated for the first time this season, and veteran Larry Brackins will see more playing time to compensate for Morgan's absence. Morgan leads the team with 23 catches and eight touchdowns, and is widely considered the face of the franchise.

Corielle Yarde scored 21 points and Brandy Gang added 18 to lead 13th-seeded Marist (26-7) to a 76-70 upset of fourth-seeded (22-9) on Sunday in Tallahassee, Fla. The Red Foxes shot 52.5 percent and made 21 of 25 free throws for their 11th straight win. Yarde's three-point play put Marist up 74-65 with 1 minute, 37 seconds left. Khaalidah Miller led the Bulldogs with 21 points and Meredith Mitchell added 15 before fouling out with 7:01 left. In the other game, Megan Van Tatenhove scored 18 points, Armelia Horton had 17, and fifth-seeded St. Bonaventure (30-3)

WOODSTOCK, Ga. - Basking in the Georgia sun and the adoration of a hometown crowd, Newt Gingrich explained to a rally of supporters Thursday that President Obama is raising gas prices, appeasing Muslim enemies, and waging war on the Catholic Church. Moments before that, the Republican presidential candidate said basically the same thing - but the audience may have been more significant. He was a guest on a conservative radio show hosted by his former campaign rival Herman Cain.

The Eagles claimed tackle D.J. Jones off waivers from the Baltimore Ravens, the team said Tuesday. The Eagles also named Keith Gray assistant strength and conditioning coach to replace Roger Marandino, who became the head strength and conditioning coach with the Indianapolis Colts. Jones, listed as 6-foot-5, 315 pounds, was an undrafted free agent who spent the first six weeks of last season on the Dolphins practice squad. He spent most of the rest of the season on Baltimore's practice squad and moved to the active roster in the final week of the season.

It is a scary combination for opponents. A balanced team with weapons inside and out, Drexel can beat you in many ways on offense. And, defensively, the lock-down Dragons boast not just the stingiest unit in the Colonial Athletic Association but one of the best defenses in the country. Drexel put it all on display on Wednesday night at the Daskalakis Athletic Center, impressively brushing aside Georgia State, 68-46, to win its eighth straight game and 12th in a row at home, including all nine this season.

Aharon Wasserman was frustrated by the sheaves of papers he received every night. As deputy field director in the Georgia office of Barack Obama's 2008 presidential campaign, the Cumberland County, N.J., native's job was to collate daily canvassing reports, crunching data on issues such as who got registered and who was likely to vote. One evening, the 21-year-old Rutgers University junior, who had taken a leave to join the campaign, grabbed another young staff member, Justin Lewis, "who wasn't so good at knocking on doors, but was pretty good at programming," Wasserman recalled recently.