Nov. 19, 2006
Philadelphia – The Yellow Jackets will face the Temple Owls Monday at 7 p.m. at the Liacouras Center in Philadelphia in the first of two straight road games for Tech. Monday’s match-up will be the first meeting between the two schools since 1990.
The game will also be a first for the team’s two head coaches, marking the first time Tech head coach MaChelle Joseph squares off against former teammate and fellow All-American Dawn Staley, Temple’s head coach.
Though the two weren’t on the same college team, Staley, a 1992 graduate of Virginia, and Joseph, Purdue class of 1992, shared the court when both competed on the 1989 USA Team at the Junior World Championships in Spain. In 1992, the two were part of a USA team that competed in Taiwan at the Jones Cup and brought home the gold medal. Joseph and Staley were both named to the Kodak All-America team in 1992.
“I have to say that this is a highlight of my coaching career to have the opportunity to coach against someone that I have so much respect for,” said Joseph. “I really can’t believe dawn and I are this old with real jobs. It seems like only a few years ago we were traveling the world as college players representing our country on USA basketball teams.”
Joseph, in her fourth season as Tech’s head coach, holds a 44-and-44 record. Joseph coached with Illinois, Purdue and Auburn before coming to The Flats. Staley is in her seventh season at Temple, where she has spent her entire coaching career and holds a 127-and-59 record.
“The thing that will forever stand out in my mind about Dawn Staley is that she was the most unselfish player I ever played with and could always get the best out of the people around her, including me when we were teammates,” said Joseph.
Staley’s squad is coming off a season-opening 61-50 road win over Drexel Friday. Kamesha Hairston led the Owls with 18 points, 14 of which came in the first half, with freshman Jasmine Stone finishing with 13 rebounds, nine points and five blocks.
Tech is 3-and-0 after a lopsided win over Georgia State Thursday, where senior Stephanie Higgs scored a team-high 28 points and Janie Mitchell put up the only double-double of the night, with 14 points and 14 rebounds.
Fans can listen to the game between Georgia Tech and Temple live on WREK 91.1 FM in Atlanta and on WREK’s website at www.wrek.org.
