@GTWBB Heads to Duke on Sunday

Feb. 20, 2016

STARTING FIVE

1. Georgia Tech returns to the court on Sunday, traveling to Duke at 2 p.m. The game can be heard on WREK 91.1 with Richard Musterer.
2. Georgia Tech and Duke will meet for the 68th time in school history on Sunday and the Blue Devils lead the all-time series, 59-8. Last season the Yellow Jackets snapped a 37-game losing streak that spanned from 1995-2014 after upsetting No. 16/17 Duke, 71-62, at McCamish Pavilion on Feb. 26, 2015.
3. Senior Aaliyah Whiteside leads the ACC with her 20.2 points per game which also is 23rd in the nation. She is also second on the Jackets in rebounding with 7.2 boards per game, which is 10th in the ACC. She has scored at least 20 points in 16 of 26 games and has five double-doubles this season. She scored her 1,000th career point against Southeastern Louisiana.
4. Senior Roddreka Rogers has been back to her old ways, recording two-straight double-doubles. At Syracuse, she tallied her fourth double-double of the season with 10 points and a team-high 13 rebounds. Rogers followed that up with another double-double against Miami with 15 points and 14 rebounds. She has 22 career double-doubles which is second among active players in the ACC.
5. Head coach MaChelle Joseph became the all-time winningest coach in Georgia Tech women’s basketball history last year and has a career record of 247-160 and the highest winning percentage in Yellow Jacket history at 61.0 percent. She is currently in her 13th season at the helm of the Jackets and is 92-102 in her career in ACC play.

a win would…
– Be the second-straight win against Duke and put the all-time series at 59-9 in favor of the Blue Devils.
– Give Coach Joseph a 2-16 record against the Blue Devils.
– Be the first win a Cameron Indoor Stadium since the Jackets won 86-80 in overtime on Jan. 29, 1993.
– Give the Yellow Jackets an overall ACC record of 194-344 and an 93-102 record in the ACC under Coach Joseph.
– Be the 248th win of Coach Joseph’s career and give her a 248-160 overall record.
– Give Georgia Tech its 623rd program win and put Georgia Tech at 623-587 overall over 41 years of women’s basketball.

team EFFORT
Five Yellow Jackets scored in double figures, three Jackets grabbed at least seven rebounds and three Jackets handed out at least three assists in Tech’s 77-48 win vs. Clemson. Senior Aaliyah Whiteside scored a team-high 13 points while grabbing seven rebounds and handing out five assists. Junior Katarina Vuckovic, sophomore Antonia Peresson and sophomore Zaire O’Neil each scored 12 points. Vuckovic led the Jackets with eight rebounds and senior Roddreka Rogers pulled down seven boards while scoring 10 points. Freshman Ciani Cryor handed out a career-high six assists and tied her career-high four steals while scoring eight points against Clemson.

super scorer
Senior Aaliyah Whiteside led the Yellow Jackets to victory at Clemson, scoring a career-best 31 points for the second time in five games. She also 31 points earlier this season on Jan. 7 in a loss at NC State. Whiteside is averaging a league-high 20.4 points per game in ACC contests and a league-high 20.2 points per game overall. Her 20.2 scoring average ranks 28th in the nation and her 526 total points are first in the ACC and 16th in the NCAA. Whiteside is one of two ACC players to record two 30+ games this season.

the last meeting vs. duke
Last season the Yellow Jackets snapped a 37-game losing streak that spanned from 1995-2014 after upsetting No. 16/17 Duke, 71-62, at McCamish Pavilion on Feb. 26, 2015.  It was Tech’s first win against the Blue Devils since Feb. 27, 1994 and Coach Joseph’s first win against Duke in her career.  Roddreka Rogers led the Jackets on the boards, grabbing 13 rebounds while Zaire O’Neil and Aaliyah Whiteside each scored 12 points and Katarina Vuckovic added 11 points.

vuckovic named to allstate wbca good works team
Junior Katarina Vuckovic is one of five NCAA Division I women’s basketball student-athletes to be named to the 2016 Allstate WBCA Good Works team. In its fourth year, this prestigious award honors college basketball athletes that have dedicated themselves to bettering the lives of others through giving back to their communities. The Allstate WBCA Good Works Teams® is comprised of 10 student-athletes; five from NCAA® Division I and five from NCAA Divisions II, III and the NAIA.

The Smederevo, Serbia, native has been involved in a number of community service initiatives since her arrival on campus in 2013.  Vuckovic, who is a member of SAAB, traveled to the Dominican Republic this past summer with fellow Yellow Jackets for a service trip.

double-doubles for the seniors
Seniors Roddreka Rogers and Aaliyah Whiteside both recorded double-doubles against Miami. Whiteside led the Jackets with 20 points and grabbed 10 rebounds while Rogers had 15 points and a team-high 14 rebounds. The last time two Yellow Jackets had double-digit rebounds in the same game was a Indiana when Whiteside had 15 and Vuckovic grabbed 10.

rogers back to her old ways
Senior Roddreka Rogers has been back to her old ways. She has recorded two-straight double-doubles. At Syracuse she tallied her fourth double-double of the season with 10 points and a team-high 13 rebounds. The next game against Miami she scored 15 points and pulled in 14 rebounds. Rogers has scored in double-figures in three-straight games and has 22 career double-doubles which is second among active players in the ACC. She has led the Jackets in rebounding in 11 games his season. Her 7.3 rebounds per game are 9th in the ACC and her 7.5 rebounds per game in conference play are 10th. She averages 2.7 offensive rebounds per game and 4.7 defensive rebounds per game.