@GTWBB Turns Back the Clock vs. Pitt Sunday

Jan. 16, 2015

The Georgia Tech women’s basketball team (12-6, 2-2 ACC) plays host to Pittsburgh (11-5, 1-2 ACC) on Sunday at 2 p.m. at McCamish Pavilion. The Yellow Jackets will offer the same prices for tickets ($1.45) and popcorn ($1) as it was during the first season of Georgia Tech women’s basketball in 1974. Sunday is also Kids Day so kids get in free and can enjoy the Kids Zone which features inflatables, a DJ sign making, bracelets and face tattoos.  The Kids Zone begins an hour before tipoff.

#5THINGS
– Head coach MaChelle Joseph became GT’s all-time winningest coach after the Jackets defeated Clemson on Jan. 4. She has a career record of 225-140.
– Sophomore Kaela Davis is on pace to become the fastest player to reach 1,000 career points. She has 952 career points and has played in 50 career games. The record is 55 games.
– Junior Roddreka Rogers has a team-best five double-doubles after recording one at North Carolina with 13 points and 11 rebounds.
– Senior Sydney Wallace became the 27th Jacket to score 1,000 career points after scoring 10 points against Lipscomb.
– This is the 3rd meeting in school history against Pittsburgh. Tech has won 1 out 2 meetings. 

A win would…
– Be the 226th win of Coach Joseph’s career, making her 226-140 overall.
– Give Joseph an 2-0 record against Pittsburgh
– Be the second-straight win against the Panthers after a 77-66 victory last season in Pittsburgh
– Give Georgia Tech its 601st program win and put Georgia Tech at 601-566 overall over 40 years of women’s basketball.
– Be the eighth win in the past 10 games for Tech
– Be the seventh- straight home win for Georgia Tech
– Give Tech a 2-0 home record in conference game

Tech tidbits
– Senior Sydney Wallace became the 27th Yellow Jacket to score 1,000 career points after recording 10 points against Lipscomb
– Tech’s six losses are to teams receiving votes or ranked in top 25 polls
– In 12 wins, Tech has averaged 20.5 margin of victory
– In 11 of Tech’s 18 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 19.9 ppg average and 28th in the NCAA.
– The Jackets have won the rebounding battle in 13 of their 18 games and tied their 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 to the last time they met
During the last meeting between Georgia Tech and Pittsburgh, the Yellow Jackets held the Panthers to 32.4 percent shooting (22-for-68) and to 25 percent from 3-point range while outrebounding them, 46-39. Former Jacket Tyaunna Marshall scored a team-high 23 points while Kaela Davis recorded her fifth career double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds. Georgia Tech defeated the Panthers, 77-66. 

stepping up big
After losing senior Sydney Wallace for the season because of a torn ACL, junior Aaliyah Whiteside has stepped up in a bigger scoring role. Before getting injured during the Lipscomb game, Wallace was the second leading scorer on the Yellow Jackets, averaging 13.1 points per game. Since the Lipscomb game, Whiteside has scored at least 17 points a game, averaging 18.6 points per game the past five games. Whiteside has scored at least 20 points in the past two games, scoring 20 at Boston College and leading Tech with 22 points at #8 North Carolina. 

Whiteside is averaging a team-best 19.0 points per game in ACC play and 6.8 boards per game, which is second on the Jackets. She is also leading the Jackets in assists per game in ACC games with 3.5 per game.

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 225-140. 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 (.617) and ACC winning percentage (.488) in GT women’s basketball history. 

block party
At #8 North Carolina, junior Nariah Taylor recorded a career-best five blocks. It was the first time a Yellow Jacket has recorded five blocks in a single game since Sasha Goodlett had five vs. Savannah State on Feb. 11, 2009. Taylor leads the Yellow Jackets in blocks per game, averaging about one per game. 

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 2-2 in ACC road games so far. 

fast track to 1,000 points
Sophomore Kaela Davis has 952 career points, which puts her 48 points away from 1,000. Davis, who has played in 50 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. To become the fastest player in GT history to reach 1,000, Davis will need to average 12.0 ppg. She is currently averaging a team-best 19.9 points per game. Davis would be the second Yellow Jacket to achieve the feat this year for senior Sydney Wallace became the 27th Yellow Jacket to score 1,000 career points against Lipscomb on Dec. 29, 2014. 

lucky number 17
Junior Aaliyah Whiteside has scored at least 17 points in five-straight games – vs. LA Tech (17), at Louisville (17), vs. Clemson (17), at Boston College (20) and at North Carolina (22). She led the Yellow Jackets in scoring against Clemson, at Louisville and at North Carolina. At Louisville, Whiteside recorded her second double-double of the season with 17 points and a team-best 10 rebounds. She recorded her second third 20 point games of the season at Boston College and at North Carolina. 

The junior is averaging a team-best 2.5 assists per game and her 12.6 points per game are third on the Jackets. She has scored in double-figures in six of the past eight games and 11 games this season.  Whiteside has also been cleaning up the glass this season, averaging 6.4 rebounds per game.

STARTING OFF HOT
The Yellow Jackets have scored first in 15 of their 18 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 600-567 all-time in GT history. 

miss. double-double
Junior Roddreka Rogers opened up the 2014-15 season with back-to-back double-doubles, scoring 10 points and pulling down a team-high 13 rebounds at Loyola, and tying her career-high 17 points and grabbing 17 rebounds vs. Morgan State. She then recorded her third double-double of the season against Grambling State, grabbing a team-high 15 rebounds and scoring 10 points. Her fourth double-double of the season came against Clemson with 16 points and a career-high 18 rebounds. She also notched one (13 points, 11 rebounds) at North Carolina. Rogers’ five double-doubles is fourth in the ACC and her 10 career double-doubles is tied for seventh among all active ACC players.

When asked about her goals in the beginning of the season, Rogers stated that she wanted to average a double-double as a junior. Her 9.5 rebounds per game rank fifth in the ACC and 57th in the NCAA. She has led the Jackets in rebounding in 12 games. 

NEXT UP
The Yellow Jackets are back on the road for two-straight traveling to #7/7 Notre Dame on Thursday at 7 p.m. on ESPN3 and to Virginia on Sunday at 2 p.m.