Oct. 6, 2014
THE FLATS –The Georgia Tech women’s basketball team began the 2014-15 preseason by hosting practice on Sunday and media training on Monday.
The Yellow Jackets practiced on both Sunday and Monday to kick off the season. College basketball TV analyst Debbie Antonelli hosted a media training session with the Jackets on Monday prior to practice.
The 2014-15 season marks the 12th under the direction of head coach MaChelle Joseph and the 40th year of Georgia Tech women’s basketball. The Yellow Jackets return six letterwinners and three starters from last year’s squad that recorded the seventh 20 win season and seventh NCAA Tournament appearance under Coach Joseph. Tech welcomes six freshmen to this year’s team that are a part of Prospect Nation’s 11th ranked recruiting class.
Approaching Milestones
Coach Joseph enters her 12th season at the helm of the Yellow Jackets with a career record of 213-134. Joseph is 11 wins away from becoming the all-time winningest coach in Georgia Tech history. Former coach Agnus Berenato is currently the all-time winningest coach with a record of 223-209 in 15 seasons.
Two Yellow Jackets are closing in on 1,000 career points. Senior Sydney Wallace has 831 career points putting her 169 points shy from becoming the 27th Yellow Jacket to achieve the feat. Sophomore Kaela Davis has 594 career points, which makes her 406 points away from 1,000. Davis has played in 32 career games. The record for the fastest player to reach 1,000 points is 55 games.
Georgia Tech has 588 program wins, putting them 12 wins away from reaching the 600 win milestone.
Returning to the Flats
The Yellow Jackets look to be led by Davis, who was a member of the 2014 All-ACC Second team and the 2014 All-ACC Freshman Team. Davis set the single season scoring record for a freshman in Georgia Tech history with 594 points last season, which ranks third on GT’s all-time list for points in a single season. Davis led all ACC rookies last season with 18.6 points per game and was honored as the ACC Rookie of the Week four times.
Georgia Tech returns five of their top six top-scorers from last season and 62 percent of scoring from 2013-14. Davis and Wallace are two of the top returning scorers. Davis averaged 18.6 points per game and led the team with 85 3-pointers made. Wallace averaged 9.8 points per game and made 49 3-pointers.
Junior Roddreka Rogers was one of the strongest rebounders on the team last season, averaging 6.6 boards per game. She returns in the post along with junior center Nariah Taylor. Rogers and Taylor had the highest field goal percentage, with Rogers shooting 56.2 percent and Taylor at 52.9 percent.
Junior Aaliyah Whiteside had a stellar sophomore season, averaging 7.8 points per game and 5.3 rebounds per game and the Jackets look to use her in both a guard and forward role this upcoming season. Sophomore Katarina Vuckovic averaged 3.3 points and 2.4 rebounds per game during her freshmen campaign last season.
Fresh Faces
Georgia Tech welcomes six freshmen to this year’s team. Center Simina Avram (Brasov, Romania), point guard Imani Tilford (Greenburgh, N.Y.), forwards De’Ashia Jones (Newark, N.J.), Zaire O’Neil (Newark, N.J.), Erin Garner (Philadelphia, Pa.) and guard Antonia Peresson (Pordenone, Italy) make up Georgia Tech’s freshmen class that was ranked 11th in the nation by Prospect’s Nation. O’Neil and Jones were both teammates at Malcolm Shabazz High School where they led Shabazz to two Tournament of Champions Titles and a #4 ranking in the nation in the USA Today Super 25 Rankings. Garner played for Trenton Catholic Academy, breaking her school’s record for most blocks in a season and playing a critical part in Trenton Catholic’s run to the Non-Public B Championship in 2013.
Tilford graduated as the all-time leading scorer for both girls and boys at Woodlands High School and was named the MVP and the Journal News’ Player of the Year in 2014. Presson won a bronze medal this past summer during the 2014 U20 European Championship with the Italian national team and won the Italian U19 Championships in 2013 with Reyer Venezia. Avram competed this summer at the 2014 U20 Division B Championship with her home country of Romania and placed second in the national championship with Brasov U23 team.
The Yellow Jackets host Flagler in an exhibition game on Nov. 2 at 2 p.m. at McCamish Pavilion. Season tickets can be purchased online, by calling the 888-TECH-TIX or by visiting the ticket office at 150 Bobby Dodd Way.
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–TogetherWeSwarm–
