Jan. 3, 2013
THE FLATS – Five Yellow Jackets scored in double digits and junior point guard Dawnn Maye notched her fourth career double-double with 11 points and 12 assists, but it wasn’t enough as Georgia Tech (7-6, 0-2 ACC) came up short against No. 19/21 Florida State (12-1, 2-0 ACC), 85-78, Thursday night at McCamish Pavilion.
Of Maye’s four career double-doubles, not one has been the traditional points/rebounds version. This was her third that was points/assists and she has one that is points/steals.
Senior Danielle Hamilton-Carter led the Tech scoring charge with 13 points and the Stockholm, Sweden, native led Tech on the glass with eight boards. Junior Tyaunna Marshall and sophomore Sydney Wallace each tossed in 12 points, while freshman Brittany Jackson added 11.
“I’m really proud of the way we came out,” head coach MaChelle Joseph said. “I thought we competed hard. There is no doubt we got better going up against another top-20 team. I thought we showed a lot of poise and composure and I saw a lot of improvement on the offensive end.
“I thought all of our freshmen had a good first half, we just didn’t put two halves together and that’s a sign of a young team,” Joseph continued. “We had some players step up in the first half that didn’t step up in the second half. Those are things we count on. I feel like we’re getting better and better every game, it’s just a matter of continuing to dig, fight and improve.”
From the opening tip, Tech played one it’s best first halves of the season and led the Seminoles 45-38 at halftime.
Maye put Georgia Tech on the board first with a floater in the lane, but there would be three ties and four lead changes in the first four and a half minutes. Both the Jackets and Seminoles started off shooting red-hot from the floor with both teams converting at least 50 percent of their field goal attempts through the first 12 minutes of the game.
After Florida State converted 12 of its first 24 shots, the Noles only made three of their next 12 and FSU finished the first half shooting 44.7 percent from the floor while the Jackets made 58.8 percent of their attempts. A big factor in the Jackets’ shooting success was Tech’s 16 assists on 20 made field goals.
Tech’s 45 first half points were the most it has scored in the first half this season and was the first time it has scored 45 first half points since last year at Florida State.
After FSU scored the first basket of the second half, Tech went on a 7-1 run to tie its largest lead of the game, nine, on a Hamilton-Carter free throw to make the score 52-43 with 16:31 to go. A Maye 3-pointer at the 15:16 mark put Georgia Tech up 57-48 but a 10-2 Seminole run trimmed the Tech lead to just one, 59-58 with 11:34 to play.
A 7-0 Florida State run put the Noles up 66-63 with 8:15 to play. After trading the lead six times in four minutes, Florida State limited the Tech offense to just one field goal and two free throws in the final three minutes for the win.
Overall, there were eight ties and 19 lead changes between the Yellow Jackets and Seminoles who will meet again Jan. 25 in Tallahassee.
The Jackets will make the short trip up I-85 for a 2 p.m. matchup with the Clemson Lady Tigers Sunday in Clemson, S.C. Tech has won six straight against Clemson, 13 of the last 14 overall and six consecutive at Clemson.
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–
