@GTWBB Faces Clemson on the Road Sunday

Feb. 21, 2015

The Georgia Tech women’s basketball team (14-13, 4-9 ACC) hits the road this weekend, traveling to Clemson (9-17, 1-12 ACC) on Sunday at 2 p.m. 

#5THINGS
– Sophomore Kaela Davis’ 20.1 ppg ranks second in the ACC and she is second in scoring in conference games with 18.9 ppg
– Davis became the fastest GT player to score 1,000 career points after scoring 24 pts at Notre Dame. She broke the record of 55 games, scoring 1,000 points in 52 games.
– Freshman Zaire O’Neil has led the Jackets in scoring for the past three games, and had her third 20 point game against #4 Notre Dame.
– Head coach MaChelle Joseph became GT’s all-time winningest coach after the Jackets defeated Clemson on Jan. 4. She has a career record of 227-147.
– This is the 74th meeting in school history against Clemson. Tech has won 17 out of the last 19 meetings.

a win would…
– Be the 228th win of Coach Joseph’s career, making her 228-147 overall
– Give Georgia Tech its 603rd program win and put Georgia Tech at 603-574 overall over 40 years of women’s basketball
– Make the Jackets 9-3 on the road against Clemson under Joseph
– Give Joseph a 19-4 record against the Tigers
– Break a four game losing streak

#SWARMSTATS
– Sophomore Kaela Davis became the 28th Yellow Jacket and fastest player at Tech to reach 1,000 points after scoring 24 points at Notre Dame.
She played in 52 games – the previous record was 55 games
– Senior Sydney Wallace became the 27th Yellow Jacket to score 1,000 career points after recording 10 points against Lipscomb
– 11 of Tech’s 13 losses were to teams receiving votes or ranked in top 25 polls at the time
– In 14 wins, Tech has averaged a 18.6 margin of victory
– In 15 of Tech’s 27 games, at least one player has scored 20 points or more. In four games, two Yellow Jackets reached the 20 point mark in the same game
– Kaela Davis, Aaliyah Whiteside, Zaire O’Neil and Sydney Wallace are all averaging double-figures
– Davis ranks second in the ACC with her 20.1 ppg average and 27th in the NCAA
– Davis’ 18.9 ppg in ACC play is second in the conference while Roddreka Rogers’ 9.7 rebounds per game is fifth in ACC play
– The Jackets have won the rebounding battle in 19 of their 17 games and tied their opponents in rebounding in one game
– The Jackets are averaging 76.0 points per game when playing at home this season
– The Yellow Jackets have scored first in 20 of their 27 games. Georgia Tech is 13-7 when it scores the first points of the game  
– Dating back to the 2012-13 season, Tech has won 18 out of its 21 home non-conference games. Tech’s loss to Georgia was its first nonconference home loss since Dec. 2, 2012 against UGA 

O’NEIL ON FIRE
Freshman Zaire O’Neil has led the Yellow Jackets in scoring the past three games, including an impressive performance against #4 Notre Dame. Against the Fighting Irish, O’Neil had a team-high 20 points, six rebounds, two blocks and a career-high three steals. She has scored in double-figures in eight-straight games and has three 20 point games this season. Her 12.1 points per game ACC play rank 22nd in the conference while her 6.8 rebounds per game against ACC teams checks in at 15. The freshman also has four double-doubles. 

ACC LEADERS
Sophomore Kaela Davis is currently second among  ACC players in points per game in conference play with 18.9 ppg. The Yellow Jackets have two players in the top 15 of scoring in conference games. Davis checks in at number two, while junior Aaliyah Whiteside is 15th with her 14.2 points per game average. In rebounding, junior Roddreka Rogers is averaging 9.7 boards per game against conference opponents, which is fifth. 

The Yellow Jackets rank fifth in scoring offense in ACC games, averaging 68.0 points per game. Tech is hitting the offensive boards hard, averaging 16.1 offensive rebounds a game, which is third in conference games. They rank third in offensive rebound percentage with 40.6 percent.

THROWBACK to the last time they met
The Yellow Jackets and Tigers faced off on the Flats on Jan. 4 this season, with Georgia Tech winning the contest, 74-66. The win marked head coach MaChelle Joseph’s 224th career win, making her the all-time winningest coach in Georgia Tech history. Against the Tigers, junior Roddreka Rogers recorded a career-high 18 rebounds and scored 16 points. Both Aaliyah Whiteside and Kaela Davis scored 17 points while Zaire O’Neil contributed 14 in the win. 

GOING HARD IN THE PAINT
The Yellow Jackets are averaging 30.5 points per game in the paint, which is 41.8 percent of their overall points average (73.0). The Yellow Jackets have outscored their opponents in the paint in 15 out of 27 games and tied their opponents in one game. The Jackets have been strong on the offensive boards this season with a 41.9 offensive rebound percentage which ranks third in the ACC.  Tech ranks third in the ACC in offensive rebounds with an average of 16.6 a game. Georgia Tech is averaging 15.6 second chance points per game. 

rewriting the record book
With her 1,137 career points, sophomore Kaela Davis checks in at 20th on Georgia Tech’s all-time scoring list. Also on that list is senior Sydney Wallace who is tied for 26th with 1,001 career points. Both Jackets are also on the 3-point field goals made in a career chart, with Wallace in sixth (167)  and Davis in seventh (140). 

Junior Aaliyah Whiteside is the next Jacket in line to score 1,000 points. Over the past three season, Whiteside has scored 816 points so far.

With 13 points against Miami, Davis set the new record for the most points scored in a single season by a sophomore at Georgia Tech. Her 543 points this season surpassed Kisha Ford’s record of 521 that was set in the1994-95 season. Davis owns the record for most points scored in a single-season for a freshman after she scored 594 last year. Junior Roddreka Rogers’ 256 rebounds this season puts her in third on the single-season rebounds for a Yellow Jacket in their junior season.

DOUBLE-DOUBLE 3X
Against NC State, three Yellow Jackets recorded double-doubles. Junior Roddreka Rogers recorded her team-best seventh double-double of the season, scoring 12 points and grabbing 12 rebounds. Freshman Zaire O’Neil had her fourth double-double of the season with 17 points and 11 rebounds. Sophomore Katarina Vuckovic notched her first double-double of her career, scoring 11 points and pulling down 12 rebounds. The last time three Jackets recorded double-figure rebounds in a single game was against North Carolina last year on Feb. 6, 2014. 

DAVIS ON NAISMITH TOP-30
Sophomore Kaela Davis has been named to the Naismith Trophy Women’s Midseason Top-30 list. Davis was honored on the preseason Top-50 list in September. She is one of six ACC players and one of seven sophomores that have been named on the list. 

DON’T UNDERESTIMATE TILFORD
At Miami, point guard Imani Tilford led the Yellow Jackets in rebounding for the first time in her career, grabbing a career-high eight rebounds. Tilford, who is 5’5”, had the least amount of height on either team. Tilford is averaging 17.8 minutes per game and a team-best 1.7 steals per game in ACC play. 

WELCOME TO THE BIG LEAGUES
Freshman Zaire O’Neil has four double-doubles so far this season. The Jackets are 3-1 when O’Neil records a double-double, Most recently, O’Neil recorded one against NC State, scoring a team-high 17 points and 11 rebounds. O’Neil had a career day against Central Arkansas, leading the team in both points and rebounds with her first career double-double. She scored a career-high 24 points and grabbed a career-high 13 rebounds while handing out three assists and grabbing two steals. O’Neil is averaging 11.8 points per game and 6.0 rebounds per game, which rank fourth and third on the Jackets, respectively. Her 11.8 ppg rank ninth among freshmen in the ACC. 

NEXT UP
The Yellow Jackets return home to host Duke on Thursday at 7 p.m. on ESPN3 for Senior Day. Senior Sydney Wallace will be honored prior to the start of the game.