Nov. 24, 2012
SAN JUAN, PUERTO RICO – Junior Tyaunna Marshall recorded her sixth career double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds and junior Dawnn Maye added 17 points to lead the Georgia Tech women’s basketball team (3-2) past the UW-Milwaukee Panthers (2-2), 66-57, Saturday afternoon at Mario Morales Coliseum in Tech’s San Juan Shootout finale.
Georgia Tech opened the contest with the Panthers slow, making only two of its first 13 shots, falling behind 16-10 midway through the first half. The Jackets settled down to close the half and made eight of their final 18 shots, held the Panthers to only two field goals in the final five minutes of the half and took a 32-26 halftime lead.
“I think it was a really hard-fought win for us,” head coach MaChelle Joseph said. “It was a great sign for a team that didn’t play well and got some tough calls, we played through a lot of adversity. Bouncing back from an overtime loss like we had yesterday is a great sign for us moving forward.
“Dawnn Maye is really good with the ball in her hands,” Joseph added. “As long as she has the ball in her hands, she can create shots for herself and for her teammates. She’s stepped up her game and taken it to another level. She understands she has a lot of responsibility to run our team and score points.”
The Panthers cut the Jacket lead to only one, 35-34, on an Ashley Green field goal at the 16:27 mark of the second half. Twice over the next five minutes Georgia Tech built the lead back to five, but each time Milwaukee cut it back to one.
Marshall’s three-point play at the 6:36 point made the score 56-48 in favor of the Yellow Jackets. The Panthers weren’t able to get closer than five the rest of the way and Tech extended its lead to as many as 11 with 35 seconds remaining.
A day after recording her first career double-double, senior Jasmine Blain added nine points and seven rebounds against Milwaukee. Freshman Aaliyah Whiteside added nine points off the bench. Freshman Brittany Jackson made her first career start and hauled in eight rebounds. Senior Danielle Hamilton-Carter came off the bench to provide a solid post presence and finished with eight points and six rebounds.
Tech continues its three-game road trip when the Yellow Jackets travel to West Lafayette, Ind., to face Purdue in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge. Georgia Tech is 5-0 in previous ACC/Big Ten Challenge games and will go on the road in the Challenge for the first time since 2009 when Tech won 64-60 at Penn State.
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.
–RamblinWreck.com–
