November 15, 2015

@GTWBB Pushes Past St. Francis with Strong Second Half

Nov. 15, 2015



Box Score (PDF)

THE FLATS – The Georgia Tech women’s basketball team (2-0) used a strong second half to register its second-straight win, defeating St. Francis Brooklyn (0-1) 89-51 on Sunday afternoon at McCamish Pavilion.

“We played our second game within 48 hours and we were fatigued,” head coach MaChelle Joseph said. “I thought our pressing was wearing us down on our legs. We decided to get back and play our half court man defense and I think we were able to wear them down a little bit. With our length, I thought we disrupted them defensively which led to some easy baskets on the offensive end.”

How it Happened
It was a tale of two halves, with the Yellow Jackets heading into halftime with only a four point lead, 34-30.

Coming out of the break that Jackets built upon their lead, utilizing a 13-1 run and forcing six turnovers to put a 47-31 advantage on the scoreboard. During third period, Tech’s tough defense held the Terriers to zero field goals for the first 5:06 of the frame. The Yellow Jackets continued to outscore the Terriers, finishing the third period off with a 7-0 run that was capped off by freshman Ciani Cryor hitting a buzzer beater jump shot. Tech had 27 point lead, 67-40, heading into the final 10 minutes. The Yellow Jackets outscored the Terriers an impressive 33-10 in the third period.

The fourth quarter followed the same script, with the Yellow Jackets dominating on the offensive end. The Yellow Jackets scored 12-straight points and held the Terriers scoreless for 5:33 to make it 86-45 in favor of Tech. During the run, graduate student Irene Gari and junior Katarina Vuckovic each scored five points. Georgia Tech took its largest lead of the game with 56 seconds left after freshman Dejoria Howard drained a 3-point shot.

The Yellow Jackets sank eight 3-pointers against the Terriers on the way to an 89-51 victory and scored 29 points off of 22 forced turnovers. Tech outscored St. Francis Brooklyn 55-21 in the second half and shot 64.7 percent (22-for-34) from the floor.

Senior Sensations
Seniors Aaliyah Whiteside and Roddreka Rogers were a dangerous duo against St. Francis Brooklyn. Whiteside led the Yellow Jackets for the second-straight game on offense with 21 points and grabbed a team-best three steals while Rogers had a team-high seven rebounds and scored 15 points. Rogers also had three steals and it was Whiteside’s second-straight game scoring at least 20 points.

Sharing is Caring
The Yellow Jackets handed out 18 assists in the game against St. Francis Brooklyn with sophomore Antonia Peresson dishing out a team-leading six. Vuckovic had five assists which is a career-high for the junior. Vuckovic also added a block and scored 14 points for the second-straight game.

Tech Tidbits

Georgia Tech and St. Francis Brooklyn met for the second-straight season and it was the fourth overall meeting. Georgia Tech leads the all-time series 4-0 and holds a 2-0 advantage in Atlanta.
When the two teams met last year in Brooklyn, the Yellow Jackets tallied a 65-59 victory.
With the win, the Yellow Jackets are now 2-0 to open up the 2015-16 season, marking the ninth time in Joseph’s career that the Jackets have started off the season 2-0.
The 33 points the Yellow Jackets scored in the third period were the most they have scored in a single period so far this season.
Whiteside scored in double-digits for the 46^th time in her career with 21 points. It was the ninth time in her career that she has scored at least 20 points and the second-straight game she hit the mark. Whiteside averaged 21.5 points over the first two games of the season.
Whiteside led the Yellow Jackets in scoring for the second consecutive game and the 13^th time in her career.
Graduate student Irene Gari scored her first career points as a Yellow Jacket against St. Francis Brooklyn and finished with nine points, two blocks and one steal. Gari transferred to Georgia Tech prior to this season after playing three seasons at UTEP.
Freshman Ciani Cryor scored in double-figures for the first time in her career as a Jacket and finished with 11 points, hitting one 3-pointer and adding two assists.
Junior Katarina Vuckovic scored in double-figures for the second-straight game and the 11^th time in her career with 14 points.
Freshman Dejoria Howard made her debut as a Yellow Jacket against St. Francis Brooklyn, scoring her first points as a Jacket on a 3-pointer in the fourth period.