Katie Abrahamson-Henderson speaks on difference in her squad this year
Georgia women’s hoops coach Katie Abrahamson-Henderson talks about differences with this year’s squad versus last year’s.
Georgia women’s basketball officially began practice for the 2024-25 season Monday, welcoming back two starters, four off the bench, four ESPN-100 freshman and two transfers.
The Bulldogs finished the 2023-24 season with a 12-18 overall record and went 3-13 in conference play to land at the bottom of the SEC with Missouri. They fell in the first round of the conference tournament to Kentucky, 64-50, on account of poor shooting from the field and having absolutely no shots made beyond the arc.
“Obviously this year is a completely different team,” head coach Katie Abrahamson-Henderson said.
Significant roster rotation
The Bulldogs lost a massive chunk of their team to graduation, including their top scorer in Javyn Nicholson, Jordan Cole, Chloe Chapman, Destiny Thomas and Taniyah Thompson.
The portal saw Stefanie Ingram to Florida Atlantic and Zoesha Smith, who injured her knee against Alabama in January, to Georgia Tech. In turn, it brought in redshirt senior guard Roxane Makolo from USC and redshirt senior forward Nyah Leveretter from Kentucky.
Makolo spent three seasons at Purdue, her senior season at TCU and her graduate season at USC before coming to play for her fifth year at UGA.
“She’s going to be super amazing for us,” Abrahamson-Henderson said. “She’s a phenomenal athlete and is actually going to play the top of our press, which is awesome. She can move. She’s long, she’s athletic, she has a basketball IQ that is huge. … I love those fifth-year seniors. There’s no more, this is the last class. She brings a sense of toughness, her athleticism, she can score in many different ways. She’s going to be the surprise to everybody.”
Leveretter spent four years at Kentucky, though she did not see court time last season due to an ACL tear.
“We needed another post player, seasoned post player, to come on the floor,” Abrahamson-Henderson said. “Nyah, she has that SEC experience.”
Returning letter-winners
Of their returning players, redshirt freshman forward Miyah Verse did not see any court time last season for an unspecified injury.
Redshirt sophomore Savannah Henderson spent the first two months of the season healing from her second ACL tear. She was welcomed back to the court in the new year, averaging 2.2 points and 0.9 rebounds.
Both were practicing at full speed and intensity Monday.
The other four returners are senior guards Asia Avinger and De’Mauri Flournoy, redshirt sophomore forward/center Fatima Diakhate and junior forward Amiya Evans.
Avinger — who changed her number from 11 to 1 — was second on the team in rebounding (89) and third in scoring (233).
“Our energy is amazing,” Abrahamson-Henderson said. “Everybody’s playing really hard. De’Mauri and Asia, obviously, have the most playing experience. Asia looks amazing. She’s healthy, she’s fast, she’s aggressive, she’s ready to have a great senior season, and same with De’Mauri. You could just tell that the game is slowed in their heads when they play, just because they’re upperclassmen now. … They’ll be great leaders for us.”
Fresh-mea(t) for the Dawgs
To round out the 12-woman roster, the Bulldogs brought in four ESPN-100 recruits: guards Trinity Turner and Summer and Indya Davis — who are the fourth set of twins to wear the G on their chest for the program in history — and forward Mia Woolfolk.
Turner was actually somebody Abrahamson-Henderson had been following for a while, given she’s from Orlando, Fla., and Abrahamson-Henderson used to coach at UCF.
“I remember, she was in eighth grade,” Abrahamson-Henderson said. “I went and, … my daughter, they were actually playing against each other, and she was an eighth grader that just killed us. I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, who is this kid?’ So, we recruited her really hard and got really close to her family. Obviously, we were trying to get her to UCF and when we got this job, we begged and pleaded with her mom and dad to have her come here.”
Woolfolk was the 2024 MaxPreps Virginia Player of the Year after leading her 27-2 Manchester High School team to a state title, averaging 20 points and 9.7 rebounds per game as a senior. She also played for Boo Williams’ Elite Youth Basketball League.
The Davis twins flipped their commitment from Michigan State to Georgia out of a plethora of program offers following the retirement of former Spartan head coach Suzy Merchant. Indya was the 2023 Michigan Gatorade Player of the Year, and Summer earned the title in 2024, as well as MaxPreps Michigan Player of the Year across all divisions.
Summer averaged 18.2 points, 4.3 steals, 4.1 assists and 4.0 rebounds per game for West Bloomfield High School, and Indya was a key in their 2024 state title win and 27-1 record. Together, they carried their school to an 88-8 record over four years.
“They are dawgs,” Abrahamson-Henderson said. “Like, they play super hard. They’re super talented. We got really blessed and lucky that they decommited from Michigan State when their coach left. I knew one of the assistant coaches at MSU, Kristen Haynie, I coached her, but I was sitting there watching a different game and I was like, ‘Who are those twins?’ And she was like, ‘Hey, you should recruit them. … They’re your type of players.’ So, I got on the phone.”
She imitating dialing a phone number with a big grin.
Georgia women’s basketball opens its season on Nov. 4 at home against North Carolina Central. Tipoff is still TBA.
