March 3, 2013
Georgia Tech Faces Wake Forest ACC Tournament Opener
Georgia Tech will try for its third win over Wake Forest when the Yellow Jackets take on the Demon Deacons in the first round of the ACC Tournament Thursday, March 7. The contest will tip off at 6 p.m. from the Greensboro Coliseum and can be seen on the ACC’s Regional Sports Networks with Mike Hogewood and Debbie Antonelli on the call.
Not only will the Jackets be trying for their third win over the Demon Deacons this season, but Tech will be trying to extend its current win streak over Wake Forest to eight games. The Yellow Jackets have won 11 of the last 12 games against the Demon Deacons.
Tech and Wake have met only twice in the ACC Tournament previously and split the two contests. Ninth-seeded Wake Forest defeated eighth-seeded Georgia Tech 61-59 in the 2004 first round. In 2010, fourth-seeded Tech downed fifth-seeded Wake Forest 52-45 in the quarterfinals.
Last year, Tech advanced to the ACC championship game, led by Tyaunna Marshall who scored at least 20 points in all three games. Marshall and Sasha Goodlett were both named to the 2012 ACC All-Tournament First Team while Metra Walthour was selected to the second team.
WELL KNOWN FOE
Thursday’s game vs Wake Forest will be the 62nd meeting all-time with the Demon Deacons.
Tech’s most played opponents are North Carolina (70), Clemson (69), Virginia (66), Maryland (65), Duke (64), NC State (64), Wake Forest (61), Florida State (41), Georgia (35) and Georgia State (35).
CLOSE EXPECTATIONS
When Georgia Tech and Wake Forest face off, fans and coaches can usually expect a close contest. In the last 20 games between the Jackets and Deacs, only six games have been decided by double digits. The last 20 games have been decided by an average of just eight points per game.
Tech is 15-5 in the last 20 games against Wake Forest.
THIRD TIMES A CHARM
Georgia Tech will be trying for its third win over Wake Forest this season when the Jackets and Demon Deacons face off in the first round of the ACC Tournament.
Last season, Tech defeated NC State three times when the Jackets beat the Wolfpack in the ACC Tournament semifinals. Prior to that, the last time Tech had beat a team three times in a year was in 2006-07 when the Jackets defeated Miami three times.
RECAPPING `12 ACC TOURNEY
Tyaunna Marshall averaged 22 points, 5.7 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 2.0 steals to lead Georgia Tech to only its second ACC championship game. Sasha Goodlett added 11.3 points and 8.7 boards in the three games. Metra Walthour tossed in 10.7 points and dished out 3.0 assists. Marshall and Goodlett were named to the ACC All-Tournament First Team while Walthour was a second team selection.
MARSHALL IS FIRST TEAMER
Junior Tyaunna Marshall was named to the All-ACC First Team, becoming the first Jacket since Sonja Mallory in 2003 to be named first team and only the fourth overall.
Marshall finished the regular season ranked second in the ACC in scoring (17.9 ppg), sixth in rebounding (8.3 rpg) and fourth in steals (2.5 spg). She was the only player to rank in the league’s top 10 in all three categories.
JACKSON NAMED TO ROOKIE TEAM
Freshman Brittany Jackson became the ninth Yellow Jacket selected to the ACC’s All-Freshman Team. It is the third straight year Tech has had an All-Freshman selection.
Jackson was second on the Tech roster with 10.3 ppg and 39 3-pointers. She scored at least 20 points five times and made at least three 3-pointers seven times.
MARSHALL ADDS DEFENSIVE HONOR
Marshall was also named to the ACC’s All-Defensive Team by the league’s head coaches. Entering the ACC Tournament, she is second on the Jackets with 73 steals and ranks fourth in the ACC with 2.5 per game.
In conference games, she led GT with 49 steals and was second in the ACC with 2.7 steals per game. Marshall tallied at least three steals in 14 games this season. She grabbed four steals against Marquette on Nov. 27 when Tech set the school single-game record with 27 steals.
Marshall is the fifth different Jacket to earn all-defensive honors and the first since Alex Montgomery in 2011.
RED-HOT MARSHALL
Ty Marshall has been red-hot over final 10 games of the regular season en route to All-ACC first team honors.
She has averaged 21.7 points, 8.7 rebounds, 3.0 assists and nearly 3.0 steals over the last five weeks.
GLASS CLEANER
Freshman Roddreka Rogers has finished with double-digit rebounds in the Jackets’ last five games. She has six double figure rebound games this year and all have come against ACC opponents.
In ACC games only, Rogers is averaging 7.0 rebounds. She ranks 15th overall and is the highest ranking freshman on the glass.
