| Southern Mississippi’s Jessica Woods, right, and Georgia Tech’s Regina Tate chase down a loose ball during the first half of their NIT tournament matchup Thursday, March 16, 2000, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Alan Mothner) |
ATLANTA (March 16) – Jaime Kruppa, Regina Tate and MilliMartinez all had double-doubles for Georgia Tech as the YellowJackets held on to defeat Southern Mississippi, 76-71, Thursdaynight (3/16) in the first round of the Women’s National InvitationTournament at Alexander Memorial Coliseum at McDonald’s Center.
Kruppa scored a team-high 16 points to go a long with 10 rebounds, and Tate and Martinez had 13 points each as Tech (16-13 overall) advanced to the second round. Tate had a game-high 14 rebounds, and Martinez had 12 boards.
The Jackets will play at Chattanooga in the second round Saturday at 7 p.m. Chattanooga defeated Alabama, 70-68, Thursday in another first round WNIT game. Southern Miss (17-13) rallied from 12 down early in the second half to force overtime The Lady Eagles’ Angela Atterberry led all scorers with 22 points. She had a key steal and a 3-pointer with just under a minute to play in regulation that tied the game at 67. Southern Miss actually had a chance to win near the end of regulation, but Jessica Woods missed a baseline jumper with 2.3 seconds left.
Tech grabbed a quick lead in overtime and put the game away. Alex Stewart, who finished with 11 points for the Jackets, sealed the win by going 3-of-4 from the free throw line in the final 38 seconds. Senior Danielle Donehew had 11 points and Lingenfelder finished with 10 as six Tech players scored in double figures.
The last time three Tech players had double-doubles in the same game was Feb. 5, 1995, in a 67-59 win at Maryland.
