Nov. 18, 2015
Final Stats | GT Photo Gallery
Box Score (PDF)
THE FLATS – Senior Aaliyah Whiteside of the Georgia Tech women’s basketball team (3-0) scored her 1,000th career point in a 102-49 win against Southeastern Louisiana (0-3) on Wednesday night at McCamish Pavilion.
“I’m really excited that Aaliyah Whiteside as able to get her 1,000th point here at Georgia Tech,” head coach MaChelle Joseph said. “She’s had an outstanding career. She’s been a great role player for us and this year she has stepped into a major role and has become our go-to player. She has taken on a lot of responsibility on both ends of the floor.”
Whiteside, who needed 21 points entering into tonight’s game to hit the milestone, scored 21 against the Lions to become the 29th Yellow Jacket to score 1,000 career points. She has scored at least 20 points in all three games so far this season.
“I’m pleased with the way we shared the basketball with 24 assists,” Joseph said. “We had some turnovers there at the end but other than that our assist to turnover ratio was really impressive. The thing that I was most impressed with was how they are willing to make the extra pass and getting each other involved on the offensive end. I thought that we did some good things defensively.”
How it Happened
The Yellow Jackets forced eight turnovers in the first period on their way to a 28-10 lead in the first break. Graduate student Irene Gari led the Jackets in the first period, bypassing her previous season high (nine points) by scoring 10 points, including two 3-pointers. Six different Jackets recorded points in the first period and the defense held the Lions to 3-of- 15 shooting at the end of the first 10 minutes of play.
The Yellow Jackets ran to a 52-24 point lead in the first half, behind Gari’s 17 points and senior Aaliyah Whiteside’s 14. Tech only allowed the Lions to score 24 points in the first and second periods combined, while the Jackets scored 28 and 24 points in the first and second periods, respectively.
Tech held the Lions to zero field goals until 3:36 left in the frame in the third period and only allowed one field goal the entire period. The Jackets held the Lions to a 6.7 field goal percentage in the third period, taking an 84-28 lead into the final frame of the game.
With 4:22 on the clock, Whiteside laid in a basket while getting fouled on the shot. Needing just one more point to reach 1,000 career points, Whiteside hit nothing but net on her free throw to reach the career milestone. The Yellow Jackets hit 100 points for the first time since last season against Morgan State on Nov. 16, 2014 and won 102-49.
20-20
Georgia Tech had two 20 point scorers in the game in Gari (24) and Whiteside (21). Gari scored a season-best 24 points, hitting three 3-pointers and going a perfect 11-for-11 from the free throw line. It was the Olivia, Spain, native’s first time leading the team in scoring. Whiteside scored 21 points for her third-straight game scoring at least 21 points and had a team-high five assists.
The First Double-Double
Freshman Martine Fortune recorded the Yellow Jackets’ first double-double of the season, scoring 10 points on 5-for-7 shooting and pulling down 10 rebounds. Fortune led the team in rebounding with her 10 boards and it is the first double-double of the Philadelphia, Pa., native’s career. She also had a steal and a block in the victory.
Rebounding Machines
The Yellow Jackets’ 68 rebounds against Southeastern Louisiana ranks fifth on Tech’s single season list for most rebounds in a game. Georgia Tech has outrebounded every opponent this season and holds a +21.0 rebounding margin. The Jackets held a 68-36 advantage on the boards against the Lions. Every Yellow Jacket that played grabbed at least three boards.
100 Points
The Yellow Jackets scored 102 points against the Lions and the last time that the Yellow Jackets scored 100 points was in a 105-76 win against Morgan State on Nov. 16, 2014. Georgia Tech has scored at least 100 points in a game 29 times in the history of the program.
Tech Tidbits
- Senior Aaliyah Whiteside became the 29th Yellow Jacket to score 1,000 career points.
- With the win, Georgia Tech is 3-0 this season, marking the seventh time in Coach Joseph’s 13 year career that the Jackets have started off 3-0.
- The Yellow Jackets scored a season-best 52 points in the first half.
- Heading into tonight’s game, the Yellow Jackets were averaging an ACC-best 86.5 points per game. The Yellow Jackets scored 84 points in the first three periods alone against Southeastern Louisiana.
- In every game this season, at least one Yellow Jacket has scored 20 points.
- Redshirt senior Irene Gari scored a season-high 24 points with 17 of those points coming in the first half alone.
- Freshman Martine Fortune scored a season-best, 10 points to go along with her season-high 10 rebounds for her first career double-double. Prior to tonight’s game she had only scored two points against Loyola Chicago.
- Freshman Chelsea Guimarares also scored in the double-figures for the first time in her career, tallying a season-best 11 points and two blocks.
Next Up
The Yellow Jackets travel to in-state rival Georgia on Sunday at 4 p.m. for their first road game of the season. The game will be on the SEC Network.
