Nov. 22, 2015
ATHENS, Ga. – The Georgia Tech women’s basketball team (3-1) suffered its first loss of the season, falling at Georgia (2-1), 78-66, on Sunday afternoon.
“I’m just really disappointed in our start today,” head coach MaChelle Joseph said. “I felt like we should have come out more aggressive. They came after us in the first two quarters and we weren’t able to recover. I thought that our young players got better as the game progressed.”
Getting Tech-nical
For the second-straight game the Yellow Jackets had two players score at least 20 points. Senior Aaliyah Whiteside led the Yellow Jackets for the third game this season with 21 points while junior Katarina Vuckovic scored career-high 20 points. Whiteside also led the Yellow Jackets in rebounding nine boards.
Senior Roddreka Rogers also scored in double-figures, tallying 11 points and four rebounds. Sophomore Imani Tilford led the team in steals with four and assists with four. The Yellow Jackets lost the rebounding battle for the first time this season, falling short 40-35 on the boards.
How it Happened
Freshman Ciani Cryor went on a 5-0 run for the Yellow Jackets to open up the game but the Bulldogs tied up the score at 7-7 at 6:46 in the first period. Georgia used a 7-0 run to get ahead 14-7 but the Jackets countered with a quick 7-0 run of their own to knot the score at 14. It was the last time the score would be tied for the entire game and the Bulldogs would take a 22-17 lead into the first break.
The Bulldogs would double the Jackets’ scoring output in the second period, scoring 26 points compared to Tech’s 13. The Jackets went into the locker room at half down for the first time this season, trailing 48-30 on the scoreboard.
Whiteside scored 10 points in the third period and hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to cut the Jackets’ deficit to 61-48 heading into the fourth period. The Yellow Jackets outscored the Bulldogs, 18-13 in the third frame and held the advantage in the fourth frame, 18-17, but eventually fell short to the Bulldogs, 78-66.
Tech Tidbits
- Georgia now leads the all-time series, 34-4.
- After making three free throws against the Bulldogs, senior Aaliyah Whiteside moved into eighth all-time on Georgia Tech’s career made free throw list with 302 shots made from the charity stripe. Whiteside surpassed Carla Munnion’s 300 made free throws and is behind Karen Lounsbury (192-92)’s 320.
- Whiteside has scored at least 21 points in all four games this season and is averaging 21.3 points per game. The senior has led the Yellow Jackets in scoring in three out of four games and it was her 11th career game scoring at least 20 points.
- Whiteside also led the Jackets on the boards, grabbing nine rebounds. It was the second time this season that Whiteside has led the Jackets in scoring and rebounding in the same game and the 13th time in her career she has led the team in rebounding.
- Junior Katarina Vuckovic scored a career-high 20 points against Georgia. Her previous career high was 17 points which she scored last season against Loyola Chicago. She also grabbed seven rebounds and dished out three assists.
Next Up
The Yellow Jackets return back to the Flats on Tuesday, hosting Alabama State at 5 p.m. at McCamish Pavilion.
