July 25, 2011
Incoming Georgia Tech freshman women’s basketball student-athlete Tjasa Gortnar led all scorers with 20.3 points per game through the preliminary rounds of the 2011 FIBA U19 World Championship being held in Chile.
The 2011 tournament was Slovenia’s first trip to the FIBA U19 World Championships.
The 6’2″ power forward from Slovenia shot 56.8 percent from the field and 90 percent from the free throw line in three games. Gortnar, who scored 61 points, had more than double the number two scorer on Slovenia’s team, Nina Gabrovsek, who tossed in 30.
Gortnar was also second in the opening round in rebounds per game, pulling down 9.7, trailing only Brazil’s Damiris Dantas who averaged 10.3.
In Slovenia’s opener against Chinese Taipei on Thursday, July 24, Gortnar tossed in a game-high 23 points on 60 percent shooting and converted 11-of-12 free throw attempts. She tallied a double-double with a game-best 14 rebounds as Slovenia fell 83-73.
In a 67-50 loss to Brazil, Gortnar scored a team-high 17 points on 6-of-12 shooting and was a perfect 5-of-5 from the charity stripe, to go along with six rebounds.
Slovenia’s final game of the tournament was a 75-58 loss to Spain on Saturday, July 23. Gortnar again posted game-highs of 21 points and nine rebounds as the Slovenian team played short-handed. Gortnar was 9-fo-15 from the field in 37 minutes and 3-of-4 from the free throw line.
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–
