Jan. 9, 2007
Atlanta – The Yellow Jackets head to Durham, N.C. to face No. 3 Duke at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Cameron Indoor Stadium. This will be Tech’s second match up in eight days with one of the nation’s best. The Jackets fell by 12 points in a heartbreaker to No. 2 North Carolina on Jan. 2.
Duke leads the all-time series with Tech, 48-to-7, and they’ve protected home court well allowing Tech to escape with only two wins in the 28-year history of the series. Tech’s last win at Cameron was an 86-80 overtime victory on Jan. 29, 1993. Tech’s only other win there was four years earlier, also in overtime.
In last year’s meeting, Tech fought hard holding the Blue Devils to only 32 percent from the field, but Duke, led by Wanisha Smith with 13 points, escaped the Alexander Memorial Coliseum with a 67-59 win
Stephanie Higgs, who led the Jackets with 21 points in the last meeting with Duke, is the team’s top scorer averaging 17.3 PPG which is fourth best in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Higgs is coming off a 24-point display at Clemson, grabbing eight rebounds and three steals in the 67-53 road win. Higgs was perfect in her 11 free throw attempts in the win.
Other Tech top scorer, Chioma Nnamaka notched 21 points against Clemson, draining three from behind the arc including a high-arching three that sealed the win for the Jackets with under two minutes to play.
MaChelle Joseph, in her fourth season as Tech’s head coach, has yet to defeat Duke in five tries and has yet to bring down a ranked ACC opponent. Her only win over a ranked team was a 2004 win over sixth-ranked Georgia. Joseph’s Jackets finished last season 2-and-12 on the road and won only two conference games. This year’s squad is 4-and-2 on the road and 1-and-1 in the ACC.
The game between the Yellow Jackets and the Blue Devils will be broadcast live via webcast at ACCSelect.com. Fans can also hear live game action on Georgia Tech’s ISP Network, 91.1 WREK FM or at.
