Feb. 22, 2015
CLEMSON, S.C. – The Georgia Tech women’s basketball team (15-13, 5-9 ACC) captured a 71-59 victory at Clemson (9-18, 1-13 ACC) on Sunday afternoon at Littlejohn Coliseum.
“I’m extremely proud of the way we showed perseverance after getting in some foul trouble,” head coach MaChelle Joseph said. “It was really hard to play in the first half without Zaire and Kaela. The other players stepped up. We are continuing to grow up and learn from our mistakes and figuring out ways to win.”
The Yellow Jackets were led on offense by sophomore Kaela Davis, who led all scorers with her 13th 20 point game of the season with 24 points. Davis has scored in double figures every game this season besides one and in 56 games out of her 60 game career.
Davis has 567 points this season, which is the most scored by a sophomore at Georgia Tech in a single season. She is 42 points away from breaking the overall single season scoring record, which was set last season by Tyaunna Marshall after she scored 609 points in 2013-14. Her 567 points this season currently rank fourth on that list.
“Roddreka Rogers had a huge game,” Joseph said. “She continues to show why she is one of the best players in the ACC, if not the best rebounder in the ACC. Her numbers are phenomenal. She was unbelievable with 19 rebounds, a career high. She plays with so much heart, effort and energy. She has to be the best rebounder in the ACC for her size. There is no doubt about that.”
Junior Roddreka Rogers recorded her eighth double-double of the season and second in a row, scoring 14 points and grabbing a career-high 19 rebounds. This is the third time this season Rogers has had back-to-back double-doubles and her ninth game with at least 12 rebounds. She has led the Jackets on the boards in 16 games this season and has 12 double-figure rebounding games.
During Tech’s first game against Clemson this season on January 4, Rogers also had a monster game, grabbing a then career-high 18 rebounds and scoring 16 points. Roger has averaged 10.8 points and 13.5 rebounds in her six career games against the Tigers.
Junior Aaliyah Whiteside had her 17th double figure scoring game of the season, scoring 15 against Clemson and pulling down nine rebounds. Freshman Zaire O’Neil had a team-high five assists while fellow freshman Imani Tilford tied her career-high in steals with five.
The Jackets were off to a quick start, outscoring Clemson 9-4 and holding the Tigers without a field goal for the first 5:40 of the first half. Clemson caught up to the Jackets twice in the first half and tied up the score at 11-11 and 24-24. The Tigers took their first lead of the game at 5:59, 25-24, and from then on, the remainder of the first half featured three lead changes until Tech scored seven unanswered points to take a 33-29 lead into halftime. The Jackets held the Tigers scoreless for the final 3:18 of the first half.
Rogers recorded her eighth double-double of the season in the first half, scoring 11 points and grabbing 10 rebounds in the first 20 minutes of play. Whiteside also scored in double figures in the first half, contributing 10. Both Davis and O’Neil were plagued with foul trouble in the first half, with each being charged with three fouls in the first frame.
The Tigers kept it close in the beginning of the second half but at 18:09 a baseline jumper from Davis sparked a 13-0 run to put the Jackets ahead, 47-33, at 13:43. Tech’s defense also forced six Tiger turnovers during its run and held Clemson scoreless for 5:11.
The Jackets would keep at least a 10 point lead until Clemson put together a 7-2 run to cut their deficit to eight points, 56-48, with 7:09 on the clock. Tech kept its calm and back-to-back 3-pointers from Davis and freshman Antonia Peresson would extend the Jackets’ lead to 16 points, 66-50.
Clemson would score five points in the final minute but the Yellow Jackets held on to win, 71-59, breaking a four game losing streak.
The Yellow Jackets return home to host Duke on Thursday at 7 p.m. on ESPN3 for Senior Day. Senior will be honored prior to the start of the game.
–TogetherWeSwarm–
