Jan. 27, 2013
THE FLATS – Sophomore Sydney Wallace finished with 21 points to lead three Yellow Jackets in double digits but Georgia Tech (8-12, 1-8 ACC) dropped a 78-66 contest to NC State (10-11, 2-7 ACC) Sunday afternoon at McCamish Pavilion.
It was the fourth career 20-plus point game for Wallace. The Johns Creek, Ga., knocked down four 3-pointers and now has 67 for her career. She is just 12 3-pointers shy of moving into the Georgia Tech career top-10 for 3-pointers made.
Junior Tyaunna Marshall finished with her ninth career double-double as she tallied 16 points and 11 rebounds. Freshman Brittany Jackson was a perfect 10-of-10 from the free throw line en route to 17 points.
“Obviously we’re very disappointed in the outcome of this game,” head coach MaChelle Joseph said. “It’s not what we expected after the first half, we went cold in the second half and shot 17 percent from the field. When we don’t score we, can’t set our defense. We gave up way too many points. I give NC State a lot of credit. I think they came in with a lot of confidence coming off their win over Virginia Tech.
“I think Sydney is someone we expected, coming into the season, to contribute and I think she is starting to play the way she’s capable of,” Joseph added. “We’ve asked her to play out of position at the point and I think she’s finally gotten confident and comfortable with her position on the floor. She’s a competitor. She wants to win. She’s only a sophomore and we’re asking a lot of her to play out of position and to score. I feel like she is really playing some of her best basketball and she’s playing with focus and determination. She’s one of our toughest players right now.”
The Yellow Jackets came out hot from the field and took control from the opening tip. Tech opened the game on a 10-3 run and limited the Wolfpack to only one field goal in the first four minutes. The Jacket defense held NC State to only one field goal for four minutes midway through the first half and opened 24-16 lead.
Wallace’s first 3-pointer of the game gave Tech its biggest lead of the first half, 11, at 31-20 with 6:33 to play. NC State scored the last four points of the first half, all on free throws, and cut Tech’s halftime lead to 38-32.
Wallace started the second half hot for Tech, making a three just 15 seconds into the period extending the Jackets’ lead to nine. However, the Pack responded with an 11-0 run to take their first lead of the day, 43-41, at the 15:20 mark of the second half. Roddreka Rogers tied the game at 43 apiece with a jumper in the lane but an 18-2 State run put the Wolfpack comfortably ahead.
Wallace’s fourth and final three of the day cut the State lead to nine, 61-52, with 7:09 to play but that is the closest Tech would get down the stretch.
Georgia Tech welcomes the Wake Forest Demon Deacons to Atlanta for a 7 p.m. contest Thursday night at McCamish Pavilion.
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–
