Jan. 16, 2010
ATLANTA – The 21st-ranked Georgia Tech Women’s Basketball team (15-3, 2-1 ACC), who has won two straight games and 10 of its last 11, will head north to face Boston College (10-7, 1-1) Sunday afternoon. The televised game at Silvio O. Conte Forum is slated for 1:00 p.m.
Gameday CentralGame #18 Date: Sunday, January 17, 2010Opponent: Boston College EaglesTip-Off: 1:00 p.m. ETSite: Silvio O. Conte Forum (8,606)TV: Fox Sports SouthTalent: Rich Waltz (pbp) and Robin Muller (analyst)Radio: WREK 91.1 FM/www.WREK.orgTalent: Richard Musterer (pbp)Live Stats: www.RamblinWreck.com via GametrackerTickets: $5 All Tickets
GEORGIA TECH VS. BOSTON COLLEGE
• Georgia Tech and Boston College have each won three meetings apiece in the all-time series.
• Boston College has won the last two meetings.
• The Yellow Jackets are searching for their first win at Boston College.
• Tech has started the ACC season 2-1 for the second time under head coach MaChelle Joseph.
• Tech is 146-326 (.309) all-time against teams in the ACC.
ACC HERE WE COME
The Yellow Jackets, who finished the last year’s conference scheduled with an 8-6 record, are 2-1 over the first two games of the ACC portion of their schedule. The Jackets are 26-19 (.578) over the last three-plus seasons against ACC teams during the regular season. Tech will next play at out-of-conference game aganist Savannah State before traveling to Virginia next Sunday.
COUNTDOWN TO 1,000
Alex Montgomery, an All-ACC third team member a year ago, is only 87 points shy of becoming the 23rd player in Yellow Jacket history to reach this milestone. Montgomery, who has scored 168 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 140 in her career, which is good for fifth all-time. She is shooting .358 (8th all-time) from three-point range for her career. In her first 13 games this season, Montgomery has shot 36-96 (.375) from beyond the arc. If eligible (she has not played in 75% of team’s games), Montgomery would be tied for second in the ACC in 3-pointers made this season. 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 80 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 115 games since she came to Tech and has started 67 of them. She ranked sixth all-time in Tech history in field-goal percentage by shooting .503 (274-545) from the field. As a junior, she averaged 7.7 points and 4.5 rebounds, while shooting a team-best 81.9 percent from the free-throw line.
This season, coach Joseph is seeing a big return from her senior “enforcer”. She is putting up 14.4 points and 7.1 boards per game so far and has connected on 59-76 (.776) free-throw attempts in a career-high 27.9 minutes a game. Ardossi has scored in double figures in 11 straight games and 16 of the Yellow Jackets 18 contests this season. She has also recorded three double-doubles on the year.
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 (9.8), rebounds (6.6) and assists (3.8) over the first 18 games of the season. Foster has notched a pair of 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.
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 4.5 rebounds a game so far this season. Regins is also scoring 5.3 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 8.9 a game and is grabbing 5.6 rebounds a game. She also has recorded 34 steals and 43 assists in 18 games. Bennett, who is only 5-10, has registered at least seven rebounds in six games this season.
WALTHOUR CONTROLS THE OFFENSE
Sophomore Metra Walthour has become a real leader on the court with the basketball. Walthour currently is tied for the lead in the ACC in Assist/Turnover Ratio with a 1.9 ratio (60 assists to 31 turnovers). She is averaging 3.3 assists and 4.6 points in a team-high 31.2 minutes per game.
MOMMA SAID KNOCK YOU OUT
That is boxing gloves hanging from the Georgia Tech women’s basketball teams bags. They are not for fighting but for motivation. Coach Joseph and her staff have discussed the idea of “knocking out the ACC” one game at a time and have used the gloves to get the point across. On one glove the team lists the wins and on the other they list what they are going to bring to the team to get the wins.
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 offbalance. 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 195 steals (10.8 pg) in the first 18 games.
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 121-79 (.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 nine wins shy of the programs 500th all-time victory. Over the 35-plus seasons of women’s basketball on the Flats, Tech is 496-506 (.495) in 1,002 games. Since the 2000-01 season, Georgia Tech has won 170 games (34 percent of all wins).
