Jan. 2, 2004
ATLANTA – Kasha Terry recorded her first career double-double and blocked a career-high six shots to help Georgia Tech (10-3, 1-0 ACC) to a 66-59 win over visiting Florida State (7-5, 0-1) Friday at Alexander Memorial Coliseum. The Jackets hit six free-throws over the final two minutes and held the Seminoles to just one field goal during that time to seal the victory.
“We knew coming into the game that it was going to be a battle for 40 minutes,” said Tech head coach MaChelle Joseph. “We’ve seen that in Florida State this year, that in every game they’ve played, if they’ve fallen behind, they’ve always come back. Every time we got the lead tonight, we were prepared for them to make a comeback, but I think our players stepped up and made big plays when they had to.”
Senior Fallon Stokes led the Jackets in scoring for the 10th time this year, scoring 18 points on 6-of-16 from the field and 5-of-6 from the free-throw line. She hit four of the six free throws at the end of the game to help the Jackets to their first ACC-opener victory in nine years. The last time that Georgia Tech won its conference opener was in 1995, with an 82-59 win over Maryland.
“We have to give credit to our defense,” said Stokes. “We work everyday at practice on getting better defensively, and tonight that really showed. We were challenged, but we got over the hump because we played some good team defense. If we didn’t play that defense, Florida State scores a lot of points, so there might have been a different result.
Terry recorded a season-high 11 rebounds and scored 10 points, which was the fourth time this season that she has been in double figures in scoring. She also recorded five blocks in the first half, which set a career-high, and then added one more in the final frame.
“I’m starting to realize that Sonja (Mallory) isn’t here any more,” said Terry, “and that I have to step up my game. I’m the post player that people are going to be going after, so I have realized during the past couple of games that I’ve needed to step up my game.”
Megan Isom was the only other Tech player in double-figures, scoring 13 points, including two key three-pointers late in the second half, while Jessica Williams and April Johnson added nine points apiece.
“I was frustrated coming out of halftime, but Coach Joseph said that we needed to look to shoot, not just to keep passing,” said Isom. “So, I came out looking to shoot in the second half.”
Tech went on a 10-1 run to start the second half, after coming out of the lockerroom down by two. The Jackets then extended their lead to as much as 10 points on a jumper by Johnson at 12:02 and then again on a jumper by Megan Harpring at 11:17. FSU then went on a 14-3 run to regain the lead, 50-49, capped by a layup by Shante Williams with 6:52 remaining in the contest. The game went back-and-forth from there, with neither team leading by more than three, until Isom hit her two free-throws with 8.9 seconds remaining to put the Jackets ahead by five.
After the Seminoles scored the first basket of the game, Georgia Tech went on an 11-2 run, capped by Williams’ layup with 12:45 remaining in the half. Florida State would pull within one at 15-14 before the Jackets would go on another 10-0 run, highlighted by two baskets apiece from Stokes and Williams, and another by Terry at 4:24. The Seminoles then had a run of their own to close the half, scoring 15 points over the final four minutes while allowing just two by the Yellow Jackets. Terry dominated the boards in the frame, pulling down 10 rebounds and blocking five shots while scoring six points. Seminole guard Holly Johnson led all scorers with 11 points in the half, while Georgia Tech was led by Stokes, with 10 points, and Williams, who had seven.
Johnson led FSU with 14 points in the contest, while Ronalda Pierce added 10.
The Jackets will take almost a week off before hosting No. 4 Duke at 7 p.m. on Thursday, January 2nd in Alexander Memorial Coliseum. Georgia Tech’s radio broadcast can be heard on WREK-Radio, 91.1 FM in Atlanta, and online at www.wrek.org, while livestats for the contest are available at www.ramblinwreck.com.
