@GTWBB Hosts Boston College at 3 pm

Jan. 30, 2016

STARTING FIVE

1. Georgia Tech hosts Boston College at McCamish Pavilion Sunday afternoon at 3 p.m. on Fox Sports South/RSN with Jenn Hildreth and LaChina Robinson on the call. The game can also be heard on WREK 91.1 with Richard Musterer and Fallon Stokes. Sunday is National Girls and Women in Sports Day and all kids 18 and under get in free.
2. This is the 14th all-time meeting between Georgia Tech and Boston College. The Yellow Jackets have won five of the six past meetings, including two-straight and last year’s meeting in Boston (80-77).
3. Senior Aaliyah Whiteside leads the ACC with her 21.3 points per game which also is 15th in the nation. She is also Tech’s leading rebounder with 7.5 boards per game, which is eighth in the ACC. She has scored at least 21 points in 15 of 21 games and had four-straight double-doubles this season. She scored her 1,000th career point against Southeastern Louisiana.
4. The Yellow Jackets are shooting 74.1 percent from the free throw line which is second best in the ACC. Whiteside leads the team in free throw percentage with 83.5 percent (142-170). Whiteside’s 142 made free throws are second in the nation and her 164 free throw attempts are third in the NCAA. Whiteside is shooting 83.9 percent (26-31) from the charity stripe when fouled in the final five minutes of the game.
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 244-158 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 89-100 in her career in ACC play.

a win would…
– Be the third straight win against Boston College and put the series at 9-5 in favor of the Jackets.
– Give the Yellow Jackets a 6-1 advantage when playing at home against Boston College.
– Give the Yellow Jackets an overall ACC record of 191-342 and an 90-100 record in the ACC under Coach Joseph.
– Be the 245th win of Coach Joseph’s career and give her a 245-158 overall record.
– Give Georgia Tech its 620th program win and put Georgia Tech at 620-585 overall over 41 years of women’s basketball.

three free throws away
Senior Aaliyah Whiteside needs to make three more free throws to become the all-time leader in Georgia Tech history for free throws made. She began this season ranked 10th with 286 made free throws but has quickly catapulted to second with 428 made free throws. Former Jacket Joyce Pierce holds the record with 430 made free throws. Whiteside has also shot up the all-time scoring list. She started off this season with 936 career points. On Nov. 18 she became the 29th Yellow Jacket to score her 1,000th career point. Whiteside has gone from 29th to 11th on GT’s all-time scoring list with her 1,383 career points and is 40 points away from cracking the top 10 and surpassing Kate Brandt’s 1,422 career points for 10th.

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 scored 31 points earlier this month on Jan. 7 in a loss at NC State. Whiteside is averaging a league-high 23.3 points per game in ACC contents and a league-high 21.3 points per game overall. Her 21.5 scoring average ranks 15th in the nation and her 447 total points are first in the ACC and 10th in the NCAA. Whiteside is one of two ACC players to record two 30+ games this season.

the last meeting vs. boston college
Last year’s game at Boston College came down to the final minutes, with the Yellow Jackets pulling out the 80-77 win. Zaire O’Neil grabbed a key offensive board with 1:02 left and put it back to give the Jackets a three point lead that the Eagles couldn’t catch. Aaliyah Whiteside scored 20 points in the win with a team-high seven rebounds while O’Neil had 15 points, two blocks and two assists. In In her three career games against BC, Whiteside has averaged 18.3 points per game while Roddreka Rogers has averaged 8.3 rebounds per game.

Miss do-it-all

Senior Aaliyah Whiteside has proved night in and night out that she is an all-around team player. Whiteside has scored 31 points in two ACC games this season (at NC State and at Clemson). Whiteside has scored in double-figures in every game besides one this season and she has hit the double digit mark before half time in 13 out of 21 games. Whiteside has led the Jackets in scoring in 15 games and in rebounding in 11 games.

Whiteside leads the Jackets in three stat categories – points (21.3), rebounds (7.5) and assists (3.0). She leads the ACC in scoring and has a league-high 15 20+ point games. Her 7.5 rebounds per game rank seventh in the ACC. Whiteside is also leading the conference in scoring in just ACC games with 23.3 points per game. She is also grabbing 7.4 rebounds per game against ACC opponents which is eighth in the conference.