@GTWBB Welcomes USC Upstate Saturday

Dec. 4, 2015

STARTING FIVE

1. Georgia Tech returns home to kick off a four-game homestand against USC Upstate on Saturday at 2 p.m. In honor of Tech’s Star Wars game, the first 200 students will receive specially made GT Star War decals. All children 18 and under will be admitted for free and the game can be heard on WREK 91.1.
2. This will be the second meeting between Georgia Tech and USC Upstate. The two teams met back in 2007 on the Flats with GT claiming a 92-45 victory.
3. Senior Aaliyah Whiteside is averaging a team-best 21.6 points per game which leads the ACC and is 16th in the nation. She became the 29th Yellow Jacket to score 1,000 career points against Southeastern Louisiana. She has scored at least 21 points in all eight games.
4. The Yellow Jackets have recorded an +11.5 rebounding margin in all eight games so far this season, which is the third highest in the ACC. Tech has out rebounded six of its eight opponents. Whiteside is averaging a team-best 7.8 rebounds per game while Roddreka Rogers is grabbing 6.9 rebounds per game.
5. Head coach MaChelle Joseph became the all-time winningest coach in Georgia Tech women’s basketball history last year and has a career record of 237-152 and the highest winning percentage in Yellow Jacket history at 61.1 percent. She is currently in her 13th season at the helm of the Jackets.

a win would…
– Be the second-straight against USC Upstate and put the Jackets in a 2-0 series lead.
– Keep the Yellow Jackets undefeated at home at 5-0.
– Put the Yellow Jackets at 19-1 in nonconference home games in the past three seasons.
– Be the 238th win of Coach Joseph’s career and her 389th game at the helm of the Jackets putting her just 12 games away from hitting the 400 mark.
– Give Georgia Tech its 614th program win and put Georgia Tech at 613-579 overall over 41 years of women’s basketball.

roddreka “rebounds” rogers
Senior Roddreka Rogers cracked the top 10 on Georgia Tech’s all-time career rebounding list with her five boards against Indiana. Rogers now has 764 career rebounds, which ties her for ninth on the all-time list. Heading into tonight’s game, Rogers only needed one rebound to tie Sasha Goodlett for 10th with 760 career rebounds. She needs 37 more rebounds to tie Regina Tate (1988-2002) and LeeAnn Woodhull (1980-83) for seventh with 801.

20 Point Streak stays alive
Senior Aaliyah Whiteside’s streak of scoring at least 20 points was extended against the Hoosiers after scoring 22 points. Whiteside has scored at least 21 points in every game this season, which is the most by any player in the ACC. She is averaging a team-high 21.6 points per game. Whiteside has scored at least 20 points in 15 games in her career. She has led the Jackets in scoring in seven games this season.

Whiteside’s double-double was the first of the season and the sixth of her career. Her 15 rebounds were a career-high, beating her previous career-high of 12 which occurred against Lipscomb on Dec. 29, 2014.

elite company
Senior Aaliyah Whiteside is the top-scorer in the ACC, averaging 21.6 points per game. Her scoring average is 16th in the nation. Whiteside is the only player in the ACC to rank in the top 15 in scoring, rebounding and steals. Along with her 21.6 points per game, Whiteside is averaging 7.8 rebounds per game (6th in the ACC) and 2.1 steals per game (t-15th in the ACC).

Approaching Milestones
Senior Aaliyah Whiteside became the 29th Yellow Jacket to score 1,000 career points on Nov. 18. The Memphis, Tenn., native accomplished the feat in 97 career games. Whiteside’s 1,109 career points rank 21st on GT’s all-time list. She is also quickly moving up Tech’s all-time career free throws made list. She began this season ranked 10th with 286 made free throws but has quickly catapulted to sixth with 341 made free throws. She needs four more to tie for fifth with Stephanie Higgs (345).

Fellow senior Roddreka Rogers cracked the top 10 of Georgia Tech’s all-time leading rebounding list at Indiana. Rogers has accumulated 764 boards in her four seasons so far which ties her for ninth. In order to become GT’s all-time leading rebounder, Rogers needs 276 boards this season. She tallied 335 in her junior year.

pick pockets

As a team, Georgia Tech is averaging 12.5 steals per game, which ranks third in the conference, and has had the most total steals (100) out of all ACC teams this season. The 12.5 steals per game rank eighth in the NCAA.

Sophomore guard Imani Tilford is averaging a team-best 3.1 steals per game, which is fifth in the ACC and 32nd in the nation. Tilford has grabbed at least three steals in six out of the eight games this season and has recorded five steals on two different occasions.