Jan. 7, 2009
Listen Online | Watch | Game Notes
ATLANTA – The No. 22/22 Georgia Tech women’s basketball team, who is currently on an eight-game win streak, will open its Atlantic Coast Conference portion of the schedule when it hosts Boston College (11-3) Thursday. Tipoff at Alexander Memorial Coliseum is set for 7 p.m.
Fans can listen to Richard Musterer and Kurt Hoyt call all the action this weekend on WREK Radio (91.1 FM/www.wrek.org), Georgia Tech women’s basketball’s flagship station. Fans can also watch the game live on ACC Select (www.ACCSelect.com).
The Yellow Jacket women (12-2), who have won their last eight games by an average of 19 points, have received their highest Associated Press poll rating (22nd) in the history of the program. Jacqua Williams leads the team with 13.6 points, while Alex Montgomery is averaging a team-high 6.0 rebounds a contest.
The Eagles, on a three-game win streak of their own, have been paced by Mickel Picco’s 18.1 points a game. Carolyn Swords, a 6-6 center, is averaging 14.6 points, 8.1 rebounds and is shooting a staggering 70 percent from the field this season.
Georgia Tech is 3-2 all-time against Boston College after dropping last season’s meeting to the Eagles, 62-53, in Chestnut Hill, Mass.
NEXT UP: MIAMI
The Yellow Jackets will continue ACC play on Monday, Jan.12 at Miami. Tipoff at the BankUnited Center is scheduled for 7 p.m. Fox Sports South will televised the game regionally, including the Atlanta area.
NEXT HOME GAME IS TAKE A KID TO THE GAME DAY
The Jackets will return home on Thursday January 22nd when they host No. 2 North Carolina at 7 p.m. The UNC game is Take a Kid to the Game day, where fans will be able to buy one ticket and get one free. There will also be a giveaway provided by the NCAA.
TECH VS. BOSTON COLLEGE
• Georgia Tech leads the all-time series 3-2, dropping last season’s meeting to Eagles, 62-53, in Chestnut Hill, Mass.
• The Jackets are 2-0 all-time at home against Boston College but are only 1-2 overall against the Eagles since BC joined the ACC.
• This is the first time Tech will open its ACC schedule against Boston College.
• BC first-year head coach Sylvia Crawley is no stranger to the ACC, having played at North Carolina from 1991-94.
LOOKING BACK: NO. 23 GEORGIA TECH TOPPLES TULANE, 69-52
Jacqua Williams scored a career-high 23 points as No. 23 Georgia Tech won its eighth straight game with a 69-52 victory over Tulane on Sunday.
The senior point guard was 8-for-12 from the floor, including 3-for-4 on 3-pointers, and hit all four of her free throws.
Iasia Hemingway added 15 points for Georgia Tech (12-2), which opens ACC play Thursday against Boston College. The Yellow Jackets’ only losses are to No. 1 Connecticut and No. 4 Texas.
PICK A POCKET OR TWO
After three-plus seasons on the Flats, senior Jacqua Williams has earned the reputation as one of the best defenders in the nation. The speedster from Seattle, Wash., recorded her 279th career steal on Nov. 22, 2008 against Mississippi Valley State for a new school record, surpassing Kisha Ford and Tiffany Martin on the all-time steals list. Williams plans to obliterate the previous record during the remainder of the season.
Last season, Williams finished with a single-season school record 118 steals, leading the ACC and ranking fourth in the nation with 3.8 per game. She has registered at least one steal in 50 straight games and even held the ACC single game record for steals with 11 (later broken by former Yellow Jacket Jill Ingram with 14). This season she leads the Jackets with 62 steals and has 323 on her career. She currently leads the ACC and ranks second in the nation in steals with 4.4 per game.
SENIOR CLASS PILING UP WINS
Georgia Tech’s 2008-09 senior class of Tabitha Turner and Jacqua Williams have been a part of 69 wins since beginning their careers on the Flats. The two Jackets have helped Tech to back-to-back record-setting seasons and are on pace to become the most successful class in the history of the program. With one more win this season, the pair will accumulate the most wins by any senior class to ever play for the Yellow Jackets. Last year’s seniors finished with a school-best 69 wins in their careers.
This season’s junior class (Brigitte Ardossi and Tiffany Blackmon) have been a part of 55 wins and should move into the top five by the time the two are seniors.
RECOGNITION WELL DESERVED
Alex Montgomery led Georgia Tech with 18 points and four rebounds in a 74-59 win over Oregon at the Rose Garden. For her effort, Montgomery was named the Pape Jam Most Valuable Player.
At the Bahamas Sunsplash Shootout, Jacqua Williams tied her career-high with 20 points by scoring 16 in the second half to help Tech defeat UT-Arlington in the championship game to earn the tournament’s MVP. Montgomery was named to the All-Tournament team for her successful play during the weekend.
AUSSIE, AUSSIE, AUSSIE … OYE, OYE, OYE
Junior Brigitte Ardossi started 26 games during her freshman season and helped the Jackets to their first win in the NCAA Tournament. Last season she was regulated to the first big off the bench and made the most of her opportunity by scoring 3.9 points per game and grabbing 2.8 rebounds in 14.5 minutes. Coach Joseph expects big things from her Aussie post-player in 2008-09 and has inserted her back into the starting lineup. She has played in 79 straight games, every game since coming to the Flats, and has started 40 of those games.
Ardossi, who has elevated her game to a new level, is scoring 8.9 points a game and is grabbing 4.5 rebounds per game. She is also knocking down her free-throw attempts at an 81% clip. Against Tennessee Tech on Nov. 30, 2008, Ardossi scored a career-high 18 points to lead Tech to the win. On Dec. 5, Ardossi helped Tech defeat its archrival Georgia with her first career double-double (15 pts, 10 reb).
SHE CAN DO IT ALL
Anyone who watched Alex Montgomery play last season knows she can really do it all. She is not only the team’s top returning scorer (10.8) and rebounder (5.4), Montgomery has also shown she can dish it, steal it, block it or even win a jump ball. A starter of 26 games as a freshman, Montgomery has become the center of the Yellow Jackets offense. She is averaging 12.9 points, has grabbed 6.0 rebounds a game and is shooting 37 percent from beyond-the-arc.
Montgomery has registered two double-doubles this season. She recorded 16 points and 10 rebounds against Winthrop and had 12 points and 10 rebounds in win over Florida A&M
BIG SHOT MONTGOMERY
With less than 10 seconds remaining on the clock and the Jackets need someone to knock down a big shot, Alex Montgomery has not shied away from taking it. Last season, Montgomery hit a game-winning three-pointer at the buzzer to lift Tech past Miami at home (1/15/08). Montgomery has continued to show no fear when a big shot is needed, knocking down a three-pointer as time expired before halftime in three straight games (Michigan State, Georgia and Oregon) earlier in the season.
MOVING OUT
Sophomore Iasia Hemingway excelled as an undersized post player for the Jackets last season, scoring over 20 points against the likes of Maryland’s Crystal Langhorne and Tasha Humphrey of Georgia. This season, Coach Joseph has added some taller players to the Jackets roster that will allow Hemingway to take her game outside to the wing. Hemingway will now have a chance to not only post up players her height, she will also be able to take the ball to the basket and box out smaller guards for rebounds.
Hemingway is averaging 11.4 points and is registering 4.7 rebounds a game. She recorded her first career double-double against Georgia State (21 pts, 11 reb.) on Nov. 26, 2008. Hemingway has also shown a knack for getting to the free-throw line, with 69 attempts so far and is shooting 68 percent from the charity stripe.
SIXTH (WO)MAN
Most teams are lucky enough to have a solid starting five. This season, Joseph feels she can list six starters on her roster. Sophomore’s Deja Foster has shown the ability to step on the court and make an instant impact for the Jackets. Foster is averaging 22.9 minutes and started her first career game on Nov. 30, 2008 against Tennessee Tech.
Foster is scoring 7.5 points a game and is averaging 4.2 rebounds. Against Michigan State, she sparked Tech in the final five minutes with her first career three-pointer and back-to-back three-point plays on her way to a career-high 13 points.
FULL COURT PRESS
Last season, Georgia Tech finished the season with a school record 456 steals and led the NCAA with 14.3 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 offensive off-balance. Joseph wants her team to “be an impressive running defensive team that creates opportunities for the offense.” Even though it is early in the season, Tech is averaging a staggering 13.9 steals a game.
WINNING WITH COACH JO
In just her sixth season at the helm, Coach MaChelle Joseph is already has registered the second-most wins in Georgia Tech history. Joseph has registered a 96-68 (.585) records. She has led Tech to its first back-to-back 20-win seasons and two straight NCAA Tournaments.
TECH IN THE NATIONAL RANKINGS
Georgia Tech cracked the top 25 in the Dec. 15, 2008 Associated Press poll. It the second time in the last year when Tech found itself ranked. Tech was also ranked on Jan. 21, 2008. Prior to last season, the Yellow Jackets were not ranked for 14 years to the week, with the last time coming on Jan. 19, 1993. The Jackets are ranked 22 in the current AP and coaches polls, tying it’s highest ever AP ranking and one spot off it’s highest coaches poll ranking. Tech is ranked No. 23 in AP poll for the fifth week all-time. The Yellow Jackets entered the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll at No. 25 on Dec. 23, 2008.
BEST IN STATE
The Yellow Jackets did not win any trophy or cup but they did accomplish of their main goals coming in to the season, Tech has defeated Kennesaw State, Georgia State Georgia. With a win over Savannah State later this season, Tech will be able to call itself the top team in the state of Georgia for the 2008-09 season. The last time Georgia Tech defeated three in-state teams was in 2002-03, when Tech defeated Georgia, Georgia State and Mercer.
THERE IS NO PLACE LIKE HOME
Since Joseph began her tenure, Georgia Tech is 64-20 (.762) at Alexander Memorial Coliseum. Last season, Tech finished with a program-best 14-2 mark on the Coliseum floor and is off to a good start in 2008-09, registering a 8-0 mark so far.
