Jan. 29, 2004
ATLANTA – Cotelia Bond-Young hit a three-pointer to make the score 55-53 with 1:10 on the clock in overtime and then put the game out of reach with a pair of free throws with nine seconds remaining to give Wake Forest (10-9, 3-5 ACC) a 57-55 victory over Georgia Tech (11-9, 2-6) Thursday at Alexander Memorial Coliseum.
The Jackets pulled within two on a fast-break layup by Alex Stewart with five seconds left in overtime and was fouled on the play, giving Tech a chance to pull within one. Stewart missed the free throw to give the Jackets a chance to win the game, but Georgia Tech missed a pair of layups, giving the Demon Deacons their first back-to-back conference victories since the 2001-02 season.
“There are little problems that we need to fix,” said Tech head coach MaChelle Joseph. “We need to stop a three here, hit a shot there, hit a wide-open layup. We did exactly what we wanted to do at the end of the game, though. We got a rebound and a pair of put-backs, and we just missed them.”
“We had opportunities tonight,” said Stewart. “We got every shot that we wanted; we couldn’t have gotten better shots, but tonight, they just wouldn’t fall.”
Georgia Tech missed four of five free throws in overtime, and made only 4-of-11 in the game, while the Demon Deacons converted on 10-of-15 from the charity stripe.
“Anytime you lose at home, it’s not easy,” said Joseph. “When you hold someone to 57 points though, you should win. We worked hard tonight. We obviously need to hit our free throws. We were 4-for-11, and you just can’t miss that many free throws at home.”
The Demon Deacons tied the contest 30-30 with 16:17 remaining in regulation before the Jackets went on a 9-0 run with a pair of buckets by Megan Isom, including a three-pointer to make the score 39-31 at 13:55. Wake Forest remained close, however, and eventually tied the game, 46-46, with 2:32 remaining in the contest. Bond-Young’s pass was stolen by Fallon Stokes with 1:42 remaining on the clock, and she took the ball to the hoop for a layup to put the Jackets ahead by two. A pair of free throws by Liz Strunk again tied the game at 48-48 with 1:21. The Jackets had a couple of chances to win the game with less than a minute remaining, but neither a three-pointer by Isom or a jumper by Williams would fall in.
Williams led the Jackets with career-highs in points (21) and rebounds (14) while recording the first double-double of her career. Stewart followed Williams in the scoring column, with 13 points, while pulling down nine rebounds and dishing out six assists.
“Jessica had a great game for us,” said Joseph. “She did a great job on the boards. We had 14 rebounds at halftime, and she had seven of them. She was really going to the boards, and really finishing her shots. I thought that Alex carried us on the offensive end, especially in the first half, as she had 10 points. But I also think that it makes a big difference when we can get some scoring from more than two people.”
The Jackets shot 44.6 percent from the field, including scoring 40 points in the paint, but Wake Forest hit nine three-pointers and held the Jackets to just one in the entire game.
“Tonight they did a very good job of taking out Megan Isom, said Joseph. “She didn’t even take a shot in the first half. That was something that we really worked on in the second half. I can’t fault our defense. Even though we gave up nine threes, if you only give up 57 points, you should win. Again, the little things hurt us tonight.
Georgia Tech took a 26-19 lead into the locker room after going on a 10-3 run with a little over nine minutes remaining in the frame to pull ahead 24-15 at 1:46. This marked the largest lead the Jackets would own in the half, as Tonia Brown capped the Demon Deacons’ scoring with a free throw and a three-pointer before Stewart concluding the half with a driving layup with 18 seconds remaining. Stewart led all scorers in the frame with 10 points while Williams added eight points and seven rebounds for the Jackets.
The Demon Deacons had four players score in double-figures, led by Liz Strunk with 14 and Tonia Brown who had 13, including four from beyond the three-point arc. Bond-Young and Bianca Brown added 11 and 10 points, respectively.
The Jackets will hit the road for their fifth ACC road contest of the season when they take on NC State in Raleigh Sunday at 5 p.m. Georgia Tech will broadcast the game on WREK-Radio, 91.1 FM in Atlanta, and online at www.wrek.org, while livestats for the contest will be available at www.ramblinwreck.com.
