Jan. 8, 2012
After suffering a very tough loss Friday night at No. 5/5 Maryland, the Georgia Tech women’s basketball team (11-4, 1-1 ACC) will try to bounce back when the Yellow Jackets host the No. 12/13 Miami Hurricanes (12-3, 1-1 ACC) Monday night at the Arena at Gwinnett Center (7 p.m., ESPN3.com, WREK 91.1 FM).
Georgia Tech held a 20-point lead with just under 18 minutes to play against the Terrapins, but couldn’t hold off a Maryland comeback. Senior Sasha Goodlett led the Jackets with 20 points and 10 rebounds, her fourth 20-plus point game of the year and her third double-double of the season. Sophomore Tyaunna Marshall tossed in 16 points while Metra Walthour added 14 against the Terps. LaQuananisha Adams grabbed a game-high 11 boards for Tech.
The Hurricanes, picked to win the ACC in 2011-12, topped NC State 78-68 Jan. 5 in Coral Gables. Senior Riquna Williams led four Canes in double digits with a game-high 22 points.
The Canes won both matchups with Georgia Tech last season, an 84-74 overtime win in which four Jackets fouled out and a 70-59 regular-season finale at Alexander Memorial Coliseum.
On This Date: Georgia Tech is 4-4 all-time when playing on January 9 with seven of the eight matchups coming in ACC play.
The four wins: 64-53 at Clemson (1/9/11); 70-60 vs. Wake Forest (1/9/94); 101-86 vs. North Carolina (1/9/91); 94-74 vs. NC State (1/9/88);
The four losses: 64-45 vs. #14/10 Duke (1/9/00); 84-81 (OT) vs. Clemson (1/9/85); 80-74 vs. Vanderbilt (1/9/82); 93-61 vs. North Carolina (1/9/80);
Tech’s Wins Against Ranked Foes All-time, Tech has notched 32 wins against ranked foes and all but four of those wins have come against ACC teams. The Yellow Jackets have not defeated the Hurricanes when they were ranked.
Tech’s last home win over a ranked opponent was January 6 of last season when the Jackets rallied in the final minute to defeat No. 8 North Carolina 71-70.
Joseph Knows How To Take Down The Ranked Since head coach MaChelle Joseph took the reins of the Tech program prior to the 2003-04 season, the Yellow Jackets have beaten nine ranked foes. During her playing days at Purdue, Joseph helped the Boilermakers to 13 wins over ranked opponents in four years.
Alphabet Soup: In the initial NCAA RPI released January 3, Georgia Tech is ranked 15th, second in the ACC behind only Maryland. In the rankings done by the website RealTimeRPI.com, which does both RPI and Strength of Schedule (SOS), the Jackets are 13th in RPI and 11th in SOS through games of January 6. The Jackets are third in RPI behind Maryland (6) and Duke (12) and second in SOS behind Florida State (7).
Working Fast: Joseph calls freshman Sydney Wallace “the quickest player I’ve ever coached” and Wallace proved her right in the first half at Maryland. Wallace, a Johns Creek, Ga., native scored all seven of her points against the Terps in a span of 38 seconds. She converted a jumper in the lane, knocked down a big three after a quick Maryland score and then got a steal and a fastbreak layup to complete her scoring spree.
