July 10, 2012
THE FLATS – Georgia Tech announced the non-conference portion of its 2012-13 women’s basketball schedule, along with its Atlantic Coast Conference opponents Tuesday. The Yellow Jackets will tip-off the season against perennial power Tennessee at the brand new McCamish Pavilion on Sunday, Nov. 11.
The Yellow Jackets will face six teams which made the 2012 NCAA Tournament, including a pair of Elite Eight teams, and opponents from the Big East, Big Ten, SEC and Pac-12. The full schedule with dates for ACC opponents and times for all games will be announced in late August or September.
Season tickets are on sale now, and can be bought here, for only $65.
Tech will open the season with three homes games at the state-of-the-art McCamish Pavilion. Following the opener against Tennessee, the Yellow Jackets will host Kennesaw State (Nov. 13) and Marquette (Nov. 18). Last season, the Yellow Jackets defeated KSU’s Owls 94-51 and topped the Golden Eagles 74-63 in Milwaukee.
“We’re really excited to have Tennessee, a program that historically has been one of the best in women’s basketball, in McCamish Pavilion as our first game,” head coach MaChelle Joseph said. “One of the things we’re looking forward to is having the first sellout for Georgia Tech women’s basketball. To open a new arena and have a program like Tennessee coming in, I can’t imagine we won’t accomplish that goal. We want to invite everyone to come out, support us and this program.”
The Yellow Jackets will head to the San Juan (Puerto Rico) Shootout for the Thanksgiving holiday and two games at the Mario Morales Coliseum. Last season, the Yellow Jackets faced No. 13 Rutgers and No. 18 Green Bay in San Juan.
“These types of tournaments give us an opportunity to play on a neutral floor against good competition,” Joseph said. “We feel that is really something our players benefit from. It’s a tournament-type experience. Any time you can play in tournaments, you get that feel for what it’s like. To have seven freshmen and an opportunity to be in a tournament, I think it’s really important they get the feel and the experience.”
Tech will return to the U.S. and make its first true road trip of the season when the Jackets travel to West Lafayette, Ind., to face the Purdue Boilermakers in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge. It will be the first trip for Joseph as a head coach to her alma mater. Tech improved to 5-0 in the Challenge after defeating Nebraska 73-57 last season in Duluth, Ga. This will be Tech’s third road game in the Challenge with wins at Penn State and at Iowa.
“It will be very much like an ACC road game,” Joseph said. “Purdue is very successful at home and it is another program with a lot of history and a lot of success. They return some starters from this past year and have four quality seniors coming back with a lot of experience. It is a tough matchup, but we’re looking forward to it. It’s an environment we want to embrace and have the opportunity early to get our young players ready for the ACC.
“It will be the first time I’ve ever sat on the visitor’s bench in that arena,” Joseph, a 1992 KODAK All-American at Purdue, added. “It will be a new experience. It’ll be a tremendous opportunity for our players, but just a great experience for me to get back home and take our Georgia Tech team back in front of a lot of friends and family. There is a lot of tradition at Purdue, and I’m fortunate to be a piece of that. To take my team back there and have the opportunity to experience that with them is exciting.”
The Yellow Jackets return to Atlanta to face in-state rival Georgia, Dec. 2. The Lady Bulldogs won last season’s matchup 75-68 in Athens, but Tech has won the last two games in the series in Atlanta. In 2010, the Jackets earned their largest win in the series, a 69-53 victory at Alexander Memorial Coliseum.
“When Georgia Tech and Georgia play each other, you can throw out the records, it will be a battle,” Joseph said. “I can promise you our players will be ready to play. I know their players will be ready to go, and I don’t think anyone will walk out of McCamish Pavilion disappointed having come to watch that matchup.”
The final two home non-conference games will both be played at McCamish Pavilion following exam week. Alcorn State will visit Atlanta, Dec. 16, while the Washington Huskies make the trip east for a Dec. 21, contest. Tech is 3-0 all-time against Alcorn State with the last meeting coming in 2006. The Yellow Jackets’ only previous meeting with Washington was a 60-27 victory in a homecoming game for Alex Montgomery on Dec. 23, 2010, in Seattle.
“It’s another opportunity to play against a big six conference in the Pac-12,” Joseph said. “I really think Washington is a much improved team from when we played them two years ago. It will be a different team, a different type of program with a new coach since we played out there. It will be a little different preparing for them, but we’re looking forward to that challenge.”
Georgia Tech will wrap up the non-conference schedule with a trip to Miami for the Florida International Sun and Fun Classic Dec. 29 and 30.
With the ACC expanding to 18 conference games this season, the Yellow Jackets will face seven conference opponents twice, two teams will only make a trip to Atlanta and Tech will play two teams only on the road.
“The 18-game ACC schedule makes things a lot more difficult,” Joseph said. “You’ve definitely raised the bar as far as the number of quality teams you have to compete against. We’ve jumped four games against tough ACC opponents in the last two years. It represents a tremendous challenge, especially for a young team. This conference isn’t getting any easier. We have two teams at the very top that return basically everyone from a year ago. It’ll be a challenge, but we’ve never backed down and we won’t back down now. We’re looking forward to it.”
The Yellow Jackets will host Maryland and Virginia Tech. Last season, the Terps downed the Jackets 64-56 in Duluth and the Hokies haven’t come to Atlanta since Jan. 31, 2009, a 61-47 win for the Jackets.
Georgia Tech will travel to Duke and Boston College for the only meetings of the year. Tech’s last trip to Cameron Indoor Stadium was a 69-32 loss Jan. 21, 2010. Last season, Sasha Goodlett finished with then-career highs of 26 points and 16 rebounds in a 68-58 win at Boston College.
Tech will have home and home dates with Clemson, Florida State, Miami, North Carolina, NC State, Virginia and Wake Forest in 2012-13. This will be the first time the Jackets and Seminoles have faced each other twice in the regular season since 2004-05. After only facing Miami and UNC once each last season, both the Canes and Tar Heels are back on the schedule for two dates. Georgia Tech will be making its first trip to Charlottesville since 2010 and it will be the first home and home with the Cavaliers since Joseph’s first season as head coach in 2003-04.
Fans are encouraged to follow Georgia Tech women’s basketball on Twitter, @GTWBB, and like the Yellow Jackets on Facebook, GTWomensBasketball, for an inside look at the program.
2012-13 Georgia Tech Women’s Basketball Non-Conference Schedule
Nov. 11 vs. Tennessee
Nov. 13 vs. Kennesaw State
Nov. 18 vs. Marquette
Nov. 22-24 at San Juan Shootout
Nov. 22-24 at San Juan Shootout
Nov. 28 at Purdue (ACC/Big Ten Challenge)
Dec. 2 vs. Georgia
Dec. 16 vs. Alcorn State
Dec. 21 vs. Washington
Dec. 29 at FIU Sun & Fun Classic
Dec. 30 at FIU Sun & Fun Classic
2012-13 Georgia Tech ACC Opponents
Home and Away:
Clemson
Florida State
Miami
North Carolina
NC State
Virginia
Wake Forest
Home Only:
Maryland
Virginia Tech
Away Only:
Boston College
Duke
–RamblinWreck.com–
