Jan. 12, 2012
Duluth, Ga. – Sophomore Tyaunna Marshall tallied her second double-double of the season with game-highs of 20 points and 12 rebounds to lead the Georgia Tech women’s basketball team (12-5, 2-2 ACC) to a 71-67 win over the visiting Wake Forest Demon Deacons (11-5, 1-2 ACC) Thursday night at the Arena at Gwinnett Center.
It was Marshall’s second career double-double and the 10th time in her young career in which she has scored at least 20 points. Marshall hit the double digit scoring mark by intermission, scoring 10 points in the opening 20 minutes, and marking the 16th time in Tech’s 17 games in which she has scored at least 10 points.
Senior center Sasha Goodlett added 19 points for the Yellow Jackets.
“I’m really proud of our kids, the way they gutted it out on the defensive end,” head coach MaChelle Joseph said. “I thought the game came down to defensive stops and rebounds, and we were able to do it the last five minutes of the game. We built this program on defense and rebounding and I thought that was the difference in the game, the last five minutes getting defensive stops.”
Wake Forest grabbed its largest lead of the first half, and the biggest advantage by either side, off a layup by Sandra Garcia to give the Demon Deacons a 16-12 lead at the 12:44 mark. Marshall’s jumper in the paint sparked a 12-3 Yellow Jacket run to give the home team a 22-16 lead at the midway point of the opening frame.
Tech earned its largest lead of the first half, nine, from Chelsea Regins’ layup on one of Dawnn Maye’s six first half assists to put the Yellow Jackets up 30-21 with 7:14 remaining before the break.
Chelsea Douglas’ fastbreak jumper cut the Georgia Tech lead to three, 34-31, with 2:26 to play before consecutive Jacket layups gave Tech a 38-31 halftime lead.
Tech extended its seven-point halftime edge to 10 on two Marshall free throws at 13:38 of the second half, but saw its lead whittled away by the feisty Demon Deacons who evened the score at 57 on a Douglas 3-pointer with 7:47 left to play.
“In our mind, it’s the beginning of the game, back 0-0, when they tied it up,” Marshall said. “We just knew we had to go on a run like we did early in the game. Our defense really stepped up. We got some key stops and rebounds, and tried to push the ball in transition to score.”
Following the under eight media timeout, the Yellow Jackets went on a 7-0 run to regain the advantage and held Wake Forest to only three field goals the rest of the game.
“We played two of the top teams in our league, one on the road and turn around in 48 hours and play the other one,” Joseph said. “That’s tough on anybody. I felt like those two games made us better. Anytime you’re coming off consecutive losses, you’re worried about confidence, you worry about how you are going to handle yourself when a team like Wake makes a run at you. I really felt like our kids bowed up there at the end in the last five minutes, and decided not to be denied. That tells me we’re moving in the right direction.”
Georgia Tech will now take to the road for a Sunday matinee against Boston College at 1 p.m. on the ACC regional sports network from Conte Forum in Chestnut Hill, Mass., before returning to the Arena at Gwinnett to face the Duke Blue Devils on January 18 at 7 p.m.
Tech fans can purchase an ACC pack for 2012 Yellow Jacket conference games through RamblinWreck.com where fans can choose any three ACC home games for only $9.
Fans are encouraged to follow us on Twitter, @GTWBB, for instant updates and like us on Facebook, GTWomensBasketball, for a view inside the program.
— RamblinWreck.com –
