@GTWBB Travels to #8 North Carolina on Sunday

Jan. 10, 2015

The Georgia Tech women’s basketball team (12-5, 2-1 ACC) continues play on  the road, traveling to #8/6 North Carolina (14-2, 1-1) on Sunday at 3 p.m. ET on RSN/ESPN3. 

A WIN WOULD…
– Be the 226th win of Coach Joseph’s career, making her 225-139 overall.
– Give Joseph an 8-13 record against UNC
– Give the Jackets their third win at North Carolina under Joseph and put them at 8-25 on the road ovearll against the Tar Heels.
– Be the seventh win out of the past nine games against North Carolina
– Give Georgia Tech its 601st program win and put Georgia Tech at 601-566 overall over 40 years of women’s basketball.
– Be the third-straight ACC victory for the Jackets and the eighth win in the past nine games for Tech
– Be the first win against a top-10 opponent since Tech defeated No. 8/8 North Carolina, 71-70, on Jan. 6, 2011
– Be the first win against a top-25 opponent since the Jackets defeated No. 13/11 North Carolina, 94-91, last season on Feb. 6, 2014
– Be the first win against at top-25 opponent on the road since defeating No. 23/RV North Carolina, 56-64 on Feb. 12, 2012

TECH TIDBITS
– Senior Sydney Wallace became the 27th Yellow Jacket to score 1,000 career points after recording 10 points against Lipscomb
– Tech’s five losses are to teams receiving votes or ranked in top 25 polls
– In 10 wins, Tech has averaged 20.5 margin of victory
– In 10 of Tech’s 17 games, at least one player has scored 20 points or more. In four games, two Yellow Jackets reached the 20 point mark in the same game.
– Kaela Davis, Aaliyah Whiteside, Zaire O’Neil and Sydney Wallace are all averaging double-figures.
– Davis ranks third in the ACC with her 20.3 ppg average and 21st in the NCAA.
– The Jackets have won the rebounding battle in 13 of their 17 games and tied thier opponents in rebounding in one game.  
– The Jackets are averaging 82.4 points per game when playing at home this season.
– Dating back to the 2012-13 season, Tech has won 18 out of its 21 home non-conference games. Tech’s loss to Georgia was its first nonconference home loss since Dec. 2, 2012 against UGA.
– Tech only committed seven fouls against Central Arkansas, which ties for the third-least amount of fouls committed in a game in Georgia Tech history. They only sent UCA to the foul line once the entire game.
– Tech also only sent Lipscomb to the foul line once while committing 11 fouls. 

THROWBACK
During the last meeting between Georgia Tech and North Carolina, the Yellow Jackets upset #13 North Carolina, 94-91, at home. With 4.3 seconds on the clock and Tech up by one point, 92-91, former Jacket Tyaunna Marshall sank two free throws from the foul line to put Tech ahead. Those two foul shots also broke Georgia Tech’s all-time scoring record, making Marshall the all-time leading scorer in Georgia Tech history. Marshall finished her career with the Yellow Jackets with 2,129. The win marked Tech’s first win against a ranked opponent since a victory against #17/16 Georgetown on March 20, 2012.

JOSEPH VS. THE RANKED
Since MaChelle Joseph took the reigns of the Yellow Jacket program prior to the 2003-04 season, Tech has beaten 11 ranked opponents. All-time, Georgia Tech has 33 wins against AP ranked teams with eight of those coming on the road.

JOSEPH IS ALL-TIME WINNINGEST COACH
With a 74-66 win vs. Clemson on Jan. 4, 2015, head coach MaChelle Joseph became the all-time winningest coach in Georgia Tech women’s basketball history with a career record of 225-139. Joseph surpassed Agnus Berenato’s record of 223-209, which Berenato accomplished in 15 seasons. Joseph is in the middle of her 12th season at the helm of the Jackets and owns the highest overall winning percentage (.618) and ACC winning percentage (.488) in GT women’s basketball history. 

ACC ROAD WARRIORS
The Yellow Jackets are on the road for five of their first seven ACC games, traveling to Louisville, Boston College, North Carolina, Notre Dame and Virginia. The Jackets willl travel 3,066 miles during the month of January. Tech is 1-1 in ACC road games so far. 

BY THE NUMBERS
An inside look at the statistical differences in the Yellow Jackets’ wins and losses:
– In wins, Tech is averaging 82.8 ppg. In losses, the Jackets have averaged 59.4 ppg.
– In wins, Tech allows only 62.2 ppg. In losses, opponents have tallied 72.2 ppg.
– In wins, opponents are shooting only 38.1 percent from the field. In losses, opponents are shooting at 47.2 percent.
– In wins, Tech is out-rebounding opponents by 15.1 boards per game. In losses, Tech is out-rebounded by opponents by 4.0 rebounds per game.
– In wins, Tech is averaging 20 free throw attempts per game. In losses, the Jackets are only getting 15 attempts from the stripe.
– In wins, Davis is averaging 22.8 ppg and O’Neil is averaging 13.3 ppg. Davis averages 15.8 ppg and O’Neil averages 5.8 ppg in losses.

LUCKY NUMBER 17
Junior Aaliyah Whiteside has scored at least 17 points in four-straight games – vs. LA Tech (17), at Louisville (17), vs. Clemson (17) and at Boston College (20). She led the Yellow Jackets in scoring against Clemson and at Louisville. At Louisville, Whiteside recorded her second double-double of the season with 17 points and a team-best 10 rebounds. She recorded her second 20 point game of her career at Boston College.

The junior is averaging a team-best 2.5 assists per game and her 12.1 points per game are third on the Jackets. She has scored in double-figures in five of the past seven games and 10 games this season.  Whiteside has also been cleaning up the glass this season, averaging 6.4 rebounds per game.

ON THE WAY TO 1,000
Senior Sydney Wallace became the 27th Yellow Jacket to score 1,000 career points against Lispcomb on Dec. 29, 2014, but she is not the only one this season that was close to hitting the milestone. Sophomore Kaela Davis has 946 career points, which puts her 54 points away from 1,000. Davis, who has played in 49 career games, is on track to become the fastest player to reach the 1,000 point milestone. Dolores Bootz (1985-88) and Joyce Pierce (1991-93) both reached the milestone in 55 games. She is currently averaging a team-best 20.7 points per game.

STARTING OFF HOT
The Yellow Jackets have scored first in 15 of their 17 games. Georgia Tech is 11-4 when they score the first points of the game.  

600 AND COUNTING …
Georgia Tech’s 80-77 victory at Boston College on 1/8/15 marked the 600th win in Georgia Tech women’s basketball history. The Jackets won their 550th program win on Feb. 26, 2012 vs. Clemson and their 500th program win against Maryland on Feb. 5, 2010. Tech is 600-566 all-time in GT history. 

DOWN TO THE WIRE
The Yellow Jackets are 1-1 in games decided by three points or less this season. In their game against BC, which featured 10 lead changes, freshman Zaire O’Neil’s offensive board and put-back with1:02 left secured the win for the Yellow Jackets after the score was tied at 76-76 with 2:08 on the clock. Prior to O’Neil’s game-winning layup, sophomore Kaela Davis had hit a baseline jumper to break the 76-76 tie. The score was tied 11 times in the game against Boston College. 

Georgia Tech’s other close call was against Minnesota when they lost, 72-69. 

NEXT UP
The Yellow Jackets return home to host Pittsburgh on Sunday, Jan. 18, at 2 p.m. at McCamish Pavilion.