Nov. 18, 2011
The Georgia Tech women’s basketball team (2-0) will make its first road trip of the season when it travels to Milwaukee to face the Marquette Golden Eagles in a Saturday afternoon contest. Tip-off is slated for 1 p.m. CT at the Bradley Center.
The Jackets improved to 2-0 on the season after defeating Old Dominion, 87-56, Sunday, Nov. 13, at the Arena at Gwinnett and avenging last year’s 65-63 loss to the Lady Monarchs in Norfolk, Va. Sophomore Dawnn Maye led the Jackets to the win with 14 points and 10 assists, becoming the first Tech player to tally a points/assists double-double since 2003. Maye, one of four Jackets in double digits Sunday, posted her first career double-double in the effort and narrowly missed a triple-double as she added a team-best eight rebounds.
Marquette started the season 2-0 with a 69-61 win over Mississippi Valley State and a 54-52 victory over in-state rival Wisconsin. Junior Sarina Simmons is averaging a team-best 17.5 points per game and tossed in 23 against Wisconsin. Simmons is averaging a double-double with 12.5 rebounds per game and hauled in 19 in the opener against MVSU.
SCOUTING MARQUETTE
The Golden Eagles are 2-0 on the season after a pair of close season-opening wins over Mississippi Valley State (69-61) and Wisconsin (54-52). Junior forward Sarina Simmons leads MU and is averaging a double-double with 17.5 points per game and 12.5 rebounds an outing. In the win over MVSU, Simmons posted a double-double with 12 points and 19 rebounds, and followed that up with a career-high 23 points against Wisconsin.
Simmons is the only upperclassmen on the Golden Eagle squad, along with four sophomores and six freshman. Despite the lack of veteran presence, MU head coach Terri Mitchell has two starters and five letterwinners back from her 2010-11 side which went 24-9, advancing to the second round of the NCAA Tournament before losing to Tennessee in Knoxville.
The Golden Eagles lost 74.8 percent of their scoring from a year ago due to graduation, but do return two of their top six scorers from last year in Simmons, 7.5 ppg, and sophomore Katherine Plouffe, 6.5 ppg.
Of the 11 players on the Marquette roster, six stand six feet or taller, with freshman center Chelsie Butler topping the group at 6-5.
After posting a 10-6 record in the BIG EAST last season and finishing in fifth place, the Golden Eagles were picked to finish 11th this season by the league’s 16 head coaches.
On This Date: Georgia Tech is 4-0 when playing on November 19. The four wins: 61-37 over Prairie View A&M (11/19/10), 77-49 over Kennesaw State (11/19/08), 72-30 over Georgia State (11/19/04), and 78-56 over Georgia Southwestern (11/19/81).
First Time Foes: Georgia Tech will face five opponents for the first time in 2011-12 (Central Arkansas, Marquette, North Carolina A&T, Rutgers and SIU-Edwardsville). Last season, Tech played nine opponents for the first time and went 7-2. The opponents: Bowling Green (W), Georgetown (L), Jacksonville State (W), Middle Tennessee State (W), Missouri (W), Ohio State (L), Portland State (W), Prairie View A&M (W) and Washington (W).
Coaching Barefoot: Georgia Tech head coach MaChelle Joseph will join Marquette head coach Terri Mitchell in coaching Saturday’s game barefoot to benefit Soles for Jesus, a non-profit organization which provides new and gently used shoes to people in impoverished areas in Africa. Both sides’ assistant coaches will wear sneakers in support of the cause as well.
Together We Serve: Next week when the Jackets return to the Arena at Gwinnett to face the Kennesaw State Owls (Nov. 22, 7 p.m.), Georgia Tech will be collecting canned food items to donate to the Atlanta Community Food Bank. Fans can bring in one canned item to redeem for a half price ticket. Tech will also be collecting canned food items at the men’s basketball game at the Arena at Gwinnett and at the volleyball game in O’Keefe Gym on Wednesday, Nov. 23.
