Nov. 10, 2012
The Georgia Tech women’s basketball team will begin its 10th season under head coach MaChelle Joseph when the Yellow Jackets take on the Tennessee Lady Volunteers at 2 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 11, in McCamish Pavilion.
The contest with the Lady Vols will be the inaugural women’s game at the brand-new McCamish Pavilion after Tech played off campus last season with 12 of its 13 home games at the Arena at Gwinnett Center.
Georgia Tech enters the season ranked No. 22 by the Associated Press and No. 20 in the USA Today Sports/ESPN Coaches Poll. It is only the second time the Jackets have appeared in the AP preseason rankings (the other being 2009). Tennessee, under first year head coach Holly Warlick, is ranked No. 20 in the AP poll and No. 16 in the coaches poll.
The Yellow Jackets are coming off their best season in school history in which they won 26 games and advanced to the Sweet 16 for the first time. In 2012-13, Tech will be seeking its seventh straight 20-win season and seventh consecutive NCAA Tournament bid.
Tech is led by junior guard Tyaunna Marshall, a 2012 Preseason All-ACC selection and a Preseason Wooden Top 30 watch list honoree. Marshall averaged 14.4 points per game last season. The Jackets will also rely heavily on junior point guard Dawnn Maye and sophomore Sydney Wallace, who tallied 19 3-pointers in three 2012 NCAA Tournament games.
Seeking Seven
Georgia Tech is seeking its seventh straight 20-win season in 2012-13 and its seventh consecutive NCAA tournament berth this season.
Overall, the Yellow Jackets have only had nine 20-win seasons and eight NCAA tournament appearances.
Chasing 200
Head coach MaChelle Joseph, who enters her 10th season at the helm of the Yellow Jackets, has a chance to become only the second Georgia Tech head coach to win 200 games on the Flats.
Joseph currently has 179 wins, needing just 21 to eclipse the mark. Her predecessor, Agnus Beranato, is the only women’s basketball coach at Tech to finish with at least 200 wins. Berenato finished her 15-year tenure leading the Yellow Jackets with a 223-209 record.
Winning for 600
Joseph enters the 2012-13 season with a .628 winning percentage. She is the only Georgia Tech coach to have won 60 percent of her games.
Closing in on 1,000
Junior Tyaunna Marshall currently has 978 career points and will likely score her 1,000th career point early on in the 2012-13 season.
Marshall would become the 26th Yellow Jacket to score 1,000 career points and only the 10th to do so before her senior year at Georgia Tech.
It is possible that Marshall could hit the milestone in the season-opener against Tennessee. She enters her junior season with 14 career games with at least 20 points.
Wooden Watch
Junior Tyaunna Marshall was named to the John R. Wooden Award Preseason Top 30. The award is presented annually to the outstanding collegiate basketball player of the year.
Marshall earned third team All-ACC as a freshman in 2011 and second team All-ACC as a sophomore last season. After leading Tech to only its second ACC championship game appearance in 2012 with three 20-plus point games, Marshall was selected to the ACC All-Tournament First Team. She earned 2012 Preseason All-ACC honors at the league’s media day in October.
