Feb. 28, 2016
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THE FLATS – The Georgia Tech women’s basketball team (18-11, 8-8) won its fourth-straight game, defeating Wake Forest (15-14, 6-10) 66-51 at home on Senior Day on Sunday afternoon.
“I was really pleased how we came to play on senior night,” head coach MaChelle Joseph said. “I thought Imani Tilford was huge with her toughness on both ends of the floor. I thought Zaire O’Neil gave us good minutes when she was in there. It was good to see Aaliyah Whiteside step up there at the end.”
How it Happened
The Yellow Jackets came out of the gates fast, running out to an 8-0 lead and holding the Demon Deacons scoreless for the first 4:20 of the game. Wake Forest would net nine points in the first period and Tech took a 21-9 lead at the end of the quarter thanks to O’Neil hitting a layup at the buzzer.
Georgia Tech continued to keep a double digit lead until the final seconds of the second period when Wake Forest cut the Jackets’ lead to eight points, 35-27. The Jackets were held scoreless for the final 4:37 of the period.
The Demon Deacons continued to chip at Georgia Tech’s lead coming within four of Tech’s 37-33 advantage at the 5:21 mark of the third period. The Jackets only made two field goals in the third period before making a furious 8-0 run in the final 1:43. Tech ended the period shooting 4-for-4 from the floor to take a 50-37 lead with 10 minutes to go. Sophomore Imani Tilford had four points and two steals during the run.
The Yellow Jackets continued to pull ahead of the Demon Deacons utilizing a 10-2 run to take a 62-43 advantage with 4:45 left on the clock. The Yellow Jackets held onto its double digit lead until the clock hit zero and picked up its fourth-straight victory with a 66-51 win.
Thank You Seniors!
Georgia Tech’s four seniors were honored prior to today’s game against Wake Forest – graduate student Irene Gari and seniors Aaliyah Whiteside, Roddreka Rogers and Nariah Taylor. Taylor did not play this season for she was granted a medical hardship prior to this season. The 2016 senior class has helped Georgia Tech win 20 games in their sophomore year, led the Yellow Jackets to two postseason appearances and won 71 career games. Gari made a tremendous impact in her one year on the court for Tech, while Rogers and Whiteside both have cemented their names in the Georgia Tech record books after four years of hard work for the Yellow Jackets.
The seniors had a great showing against Wake Forest. Senior Aaliyah Whiteside led the Yellow Jackets with 19 points and grabbed seven rebounds. It was her 27th time this season scoring at least 10 points. Senior Roddreka Rogers had a team-high nine rebounds and scored eight points. Graduate student Irene Gari drained a jump shot as well.
Career High for Tilford
Sophomore Imani Tilford scored a career-high 11 points against Wake Forest while handing out two assists and grabbing three steals. Her previous career-high was 10 points which she scored on two occasions this season – vs. Alabama State and at Pitt. It was Tilford’s second-straight game scoring in double figures for she had 10 points at Pitt on Thursday.
Tech Tidbits
- This was the 65th all-time meeting against Wake Forest. Georgia Tech leads the all-time series 41-24 and has won three-straight against the Demon Deacons.
- Antonia Peresson has scored in double figures in three out of the past four games and eight times this season. She is averaging 12.5 points over the past four games.
- Tonight’s win was the 250th win of head coach MaChelle Joseph’s career. She is Tech’s all-time winningest coach and is 250-160 in her career.
- Whiteside has now scored in double-figures in 34 out of the past 36 games, dating back to last season.
Moving Through The Record Book
- With her nine rebounds against Wake Forest, Roddreka Rogers has 925 career rebounds and is in third on Georgia Tech’s all-time rebounding list. She is the third Yellow Jacket in women’s basketball history to have at least 900 career rebounds. Dolores Bootz is second on the all-time list with 978 career rebounds.
- After scoring 19 points against the Demon Deacons, Aaliyah Whiteside has 1,499 career points and is ninth on Georgia Tech’s all-time scoring list. Whiteside needs 58 more points to tie Joyce Pierce for eighth with 1,557 career points.
- Whiteside became the all-time leader in career free throws against Boston College. Tonight she went 5-for-6 from the foul line and has 475 career made free throws. Heading into tonight’s game, Whiteside ranked second in the nation in career free throws made and was eighth in career free throws made among active players in the NCAA.
- Whiteside is also 10th on Georgia Tech’s all-time 3-pointers made list with 104 made 3-pointers in her career.
Next Up
Georgia Tech awaits its seed in the ACC Tournament that will be announced at 6 p.m. this evening.
–TogetherWeSwarm–
