Date: January 6th, 2013.

Time:  1 p.m.

TV: Fox Sports South & ESPN3.com

KNOXVILLE— The Lady Vols passed a tough road test Thursday, defeating #18 South Carolina 73-53. They’ll face another one as the 10th ranked Lady Bulldogs (13-1) come to town for a battle between two of the top 12 teams in the nation. Georgia travels to Knoxville having lost 12 of the last 13 games in the series.

Picked to finish second in the SEC by both the media and coaches, Georgia will need to solve their inability to beat Tennessee if they hope to meet preseason expectations. Head coach Andy Landers, Vince Dooley’s first hire as AD, is now the longest tenured coach in the SEC at 32 years and has his team playing very well. In their last outing, leading-scorer Jasmine James (12.1 ppg) led the Lady Bulldogs with 16 points in a 77-46 drubbing of Missouri. The 5-9 senior guard is shooting over 50% from the field this season.

Holly Warlick’s Lady Vols are playing in their second game since Cierra Burdick suffered a broken metacarpal on her shooting hand. The sophomore forward was averaging 8.8 points and 6.5 rebounds a game before her injury. Isabelle Harrison helped fill the void left by Burdick’s injury last game, finishing with 18 points and 14 rebounds. Warlick praised the play of her sophomore forward.

“Izzi was outstanding. We rely on her to obviously score, but her rebounding, her defensive presence, her ability to block shots, she gets that from her volleyball side of growing up. I thought she stepped up big.”

Harrison is greeted by Holly Warlick. Photo by Reed Carringer

Tennessee will count on Harrison to help Bashaara Graves (13.6 points, 8.7 rebounds per game) clean up the boards in the absence of Burdick, and her performance will be key if the Lady Vols are to emerge victorious against Georgia.

While Harrison is expected to be a force in the paint, Lady Vol senior Taber Spani is also coming off her best performance of the season. She scored 18 points on 7-11 shooting (4-5 from beyond the arc) against South Carolina. If she remains hot from 3, the Lady Bulldogs could be in for a long afternoon in Knoxville.

Notes: The first 2,000 fans in attendance will receive a free 2013 Lady Vol basketball calendar.