When the Cyclones step on the court tonight for their first-ever Elite Eight contest in school history, they’ll be butting heads with one of the NCAA Tournament’s seasoned veterans.

The Georgia Lady Bulldogs have reached the tournament an incredible 16 times, the second highest total of any college in the nation. In addition, they’ve been to the Elite Eight on eight separate occasions and are one of only four teams to reach the Final Four in four different seasons.

Lady Bulldog head coach Andy Landers moved into third on the all-time tournament win list on Saturday as Georgia’s victory over Clemson moved his total to 33.

Despite all of Georgia’s past glory, however, the current roster is nearly as young as Iowa State’s, featuring only one senior and at least four underclass starters.

Compared to the Cyclones, the Lady Bulldogs also followed a similar road to the Elite Eight.

After exploding to an 18-1 start, Georgia stumbled down the stretch, dropping four of five games, including disappointing losses at Kentucky, at Mississippi State and at home against Vanderbilt.

The Lady Bulldogs rebounded by streaking through the Southeastern Conference tournament in the championship game, only to fall to powerhouse Tennessee for the third time this season.

So far in the NCAA Tournament, Georgia has outscored its opponents by an average of 15.7 points per game.

They opened play at home, defeating the Liberty Lady Flames 73-52 in the first round. Still playing in Athens, Ga., the Lady Bulldogs rolled past Southern Methodist, handing the Mustangs a 68-55 loss.

In Sweet Sixteen competition, three-seed Georgia faced the second seeded Clemson Lady Tigers, but apparently weren’t intimidated by rankings, defeating them 67-54.

The Lady Bulldogs are led by twin sophomores Kelly and Coco Miller of Rochester, Minn. The duo has handled the majority of Georgia’s scoring so far this season, with Coco Miller averaging over 19 points per game and Kelly Miller averaging over 18.

The 5-10 guards have also combined to average 6.8 assists and 9.6 rebounds per game.

So far in the tournament, Kelly Miller has increased her output, turning in 20 points and 9.7 rebounds per contest. Coco Miller, however, has struggled, dropping to just 10.3 points and 2.7 boards per game and scoring no points on 0-for-7 shooting versus Clemson.

On the inside, Georgia features 6-4 center Tawana McDonald, a ferocious shot blocker ranked in the nation’s top 25 who averages nearly nine points and seven boards per contest to go with 2.1 swats.

The freshman has responded well to the pressure of her first NCAA Tournament, scoring 35 points so far in addition to 24 rebounds and six blocks.

Also on the inside for the Lady Bulldogs is 6-3 sophomore forward Elena Vishniakova of St. Petersburg, Russia. Vishiniakova averaged 8.1 points and 6.5 rebounds during the regular season and has stuck close to those averages in the tourney.

Senior guard Pam Irwin-Osbolt should round out the Georgia starting five. Despite averaging nearly eight points and two rebounds per game on the season, Irwin-Osbolt was largely silent down the stretch and during the first-round game versus Liberty.

However, the veteran came alive in Georgia’s second- and third-round games, scoring 23 points and pulling down nine rebounds between the two contests.

Georgia also gets consistent minutes from guards Kiesha Brown, Deana Nolan and Camille Murphy and forward Angie Ball.

A slow-starting team, the Lady Bulldogs owe much of their mid-season failure to digging themselves into large holes and not having the firepower to climb out.

Even in the tournament so far, Georgie has been forced to play from behind most of the time.

The Lady Bulldogs trailed Liberty throughout much of the first half and found themselves down 10-2 in the early going of their second-round matchup with SMU.

Clemson actually led Georgia throughout most of the first 30 minutes of their Sweet Sixteen game, eventually falling to several double-digit Lady Bulldog runs.