Karen Lange’s phone lit up at 5 p.m. with a text message. There were two hours until tip-off and Joni Taylor wanted to chime in. As many might’ve expected, she wasn’t sending her team luck as she lie in bed 48 hours after giving birth.
Taylor was ready to be back in Stegeman Coliseum. There was no intention of yanking the interim title from Lange and returning to her duties as Georgia’s full-time head coach, but Taylor craved to be there and display a never-wavering dedication.
“Don’t tell the girls,” Taylor wrote. “I’ll try to be there right before the anthem.