Feb. 4, 2010
ATLANTA – The 21st-ranked Georgia Tech Women’s Basketball team (18-5, 4-3 ACC) will try and extend its two-game winning streak when it travels to Maryland (16-6, 3-4) Friday. Due to the forecast of severe winter weather in the area, the game at the Comcast Center is now slated to begin at 4:00 p.m.
Gameday CentralGame #24 Date: Friday, February 5, 2010Opponent: Maryland TerrapinsTip-Off: 4:00 p.m. ETSite: Comcast Center (17,950)TV: Fox Sports South (Atlanta)/RSN Live at 4:00 p.m., broadcast repeated at 8:30 p.m.Talent: Mike Hogewood (pbp) and Debbie Antonelli (analyst)Radio: WREK 91.1 FM/www.WREK.orgTalent: Richard Musterer (pbp)Live Stats: www.RamblinWreck.com.com via GametrackerTickets: $10 Reserved Seating
GEORGIA TECH VS. MARYLAND
• Maryland leads the all-time series 42-16.
• The Yellow Jackets are looking to break a three-game losing streak against the Terrapins.
• The Jackets are searching for first win at Maryland since Feb. 22, 2001.
• The Yellow Jackets are 147-328 (.309) all-time against ACC opponents.
ACC HERE WE COME
The Yellow Jackets, who finished the last year’s conference schedule with an 8-6 record, are 4-3 over the first half of the ACC portion of their 2009-10 schedule. The Jackets are 28-21 (.571) over the last three-plus seasons against ACC teams during the regular season. The Jackets, who are one of three teams sitting at 4-3 in conference play, will next play at Clemson Monday at 7p.m.
COUNTDOWN TO 1,000
Alex Montgomery, an All-ACC third team member a year ago, is only 40 points shy of becoming the 23rd player in Yellow Jacket history to reach this milestone. Montgomery, who has scored 215 points this season, finished with 335 points her freshman season and added 410 as a sophomore.
MONTGOMERY KNOCKS THEM DOWN FROM LONG RANGE
Alex Montgomery has become one of the most prolific three-point shooters in Georgia Tech history. She has knocked down 152 in her career, which is good for fifth all-time. She is shooting .355 (8th all-time) from three-point range for her career. Over the 18 games she has played this season, Montgomery has shot 48-133 (.361) from beyond the arc. Montgomery ranks second in the ACC in 3-pointers made this season with 2.7 per game. Her five three-point baskets vs. Wake Forest tied a career-high.
SENIOR CLASS WINNINGEST CLASS IN GEORGIA TECH HISTORY
The 2009-10 senior class, Brigitte Ardossi and Tiffany Blackmon, have been part of 83 wins in their three plus seasons on the Flats, which is the all-time class record. The Jackets seniors have topped last year’s senior class, who had 79 wins between them, to become the winningest senior class in the history of the women’s basketball program.
ARDOSSI THE AUSSIE
Senior Brigitte Ardossi, if nothing else, has been extremely consistent over her three-plus seasons on the Flats. The Melbourne, Australia native has played in all 120 games since she came to Tech and has started 72 of them. She ranks seventh all-time in Tech history in field-goal percentage by shooting .490 (299-610) from the field.
This season, coach Joseph is seeing a big return from her senior “enforcer”. She is putting up 14.9 points and 7.3 boards per game so far and has connected on an ACC leading 93-112 (.830) free-throw attempts in a career-high 29.3 minutes a game. Ardossi has scored in double figures in 16 straight games and 21 of the Yellow Jackets 23 contests this season. She has also recorded four double-doubles on the year, including her 29 point, 17 rebound outburst in the Jackets 80-73 overtime victory over Miami on Jan. 27, 2010. After leading the Yellow Jackets to pair of ACC victories, Ardossi was named the ACC Player of the Week for the first time in her career on Feb. 1, 2010.
DEJA VU – FOSTER SHOWING IMPROVEMENT ON PREVIOUS SEASON
Just like 2008-09, junior Deja Foster has shown improvements on her previous season. Though her scoring average has not jumped eight point like the previous season, she has put up career-highs in points (9.9), rebounds (6.7) and assists (3.8) over the first 23 games of the season. Foster has notched three double-doubles this season and grabbed a career-best 14 rebounds in win over Army.
Foster has played so well this season, she is currently one of only two players (Shenise Johnson, Miami) in the ACC to rank in the top 30 of scoring, top 20 of rebounding and top 10 of assists.
CONSISTENTLY GOODLETT
Sophomore center Sasha Goodlett continues to grow into one of the best bigs in Georgia Tech history. Goodlett has scored in double-figures nine times in 2009-10, including a career-high 21 points at Oklahoma State. In ACC play, Goodlett is averaging 11.6 points a game and is shooting .464 (32-69) in those contests. She notched her second career double-double in the overtime win over Miami.
REBOUNDING WITH REGINS
Sophomore Chelsea Regins is known to be very active when she gets on the court and it showed when she grabbed a career-high 16 boards to go with her 11 points against Florida Gulf Coast. She did not only record her first career double-double, it was also the first time a Yellow Jackets has recorded 16 rebounds in a game since Sonja Mallory had 16 rebounds against Wake Forest on Jan. 31, 2003. She is pulling down 3.7 rebounds a game this season. Regins is also scoring 4.9 points a contest for Tech.
THE `MO’TER IS RUNNING
While junior Alex Montgomery was out with an injury, sophomore Mo Bennett filled in admirably for the All-ACC wing. Bennett has shown her ability to score (career-high 21 points vs. Winthrop) and the ability to rebound (career-high 13 rebounds vs. FGCU). Bennett put it all together in a win at Kennesaw State with her first career double-double (23 pts, 11 reb). She is scoring 7.7 a game and is grabbing 5.1 rebounds a game. She also has recorded 44 steals and 46 assists in 23 games. Bennett, who is only 5-10, has registered at least seven rebounds in seven games this season.
94 FEET WITH THE JACKETS
Over the past two seasons, Georgia Tech has led the NCAA in steals per game. This has to be credited to Coach Joseph’s pressing defense. Joseph will press for 40 minutes with numerous pressing schemes to keep the offense off-balance. Joseph wants her team to “be an impressive running defensive team that creates opportunities for the offense.” The team has totaled 890 steals the past two years, good for 13.9 per game. Under Coach Joseph, the Yellow Jackets have registered the three top seasons for steals in school history.
The Yellow Jackets have started 2009-10 with 254 steals (11.0 spg) in 23 games.
TURNING TURNOVERS INTO POINTS
The Yellow Jackets not only take the ball away from their opponents, they also put the ball in the basket after those turnovers. Through 23 games, Georgia Tech has scored 481 points off turnovers (20.9 per game) this season.
TECH ENTERS SEVENTH SEASON UNDER COACH JO
Coach MaChelle Joseph, who is entering her seventh season at Georgia Tech, has already recorded the second-most wins in Tech history. Joseph has registered a 124-81 (.605) record and is the fastest coach in school history to win 100. She has led Tech to its three straight 20-win seasons and three straight NCAA Tournaments, both firsts for the Yellow Jacket program. Joseph registered her 100th victory on Feb. 1, 2009 against Clemson.
MARCH TO WIN No. 500
The Georgia Tech women’s basketball program is one win shy of the programs 500th all-time victory. Over the 35-plus seasons of women’s basketball on the Flats, Tech is 499-508 (.496) in 1,007 games. Since the 2000-01 season, Georgia Tech has won 173 games (34.7 percent of all wins).
YELLOW JACKETS IN THE RANKINGS
Georgia Tech is ranked 21st in the Feb. 1 Associated Press poll and received votes in the Feb. 2nd USA Today/ESPN Coaches Poll. This marks a school-record eighth straight week Tech is in the AP poll.
Tech has earned a national ranking for the 16th week in the last three years under head coach MaChelle Joseph. The program has only been ranked for 21 weeks in its entire history. Tech, who was ranked 19th in the preseason Associated Press poll, earned a ranking the preseason for the first time and earned its highest-ever ranking.
