Feb. 6, 2005
Winston-Salem, NC–Point guard Jill Ingram had a driving layup with 35 seconds remaining and Stephanie Higgs converted on a pair of free throws with 8.3 seconds on the clock to seal a 40-37 victory over Wake Forest (13-8, 2-6 ACC). Georgia Tech (13-7, 4-5) recorded its first victory over Wake Forest in four games under head coach MaChelle Joseph after dropping three to the Demon Deacons by two-point margins a season ago.
“We knew that we had to come in here and play defense and rebound, and that’s how this team played today,” said Georgia Tech head coach MaChelle Joseph. “We came in and fought hard on their end of the court and I’m so proud of the effort that this Georgia Tech team showed today.”
With Wake Forest up 36-35, Janie Mitchell hit a jumper from the free-throw line to put the Jackets ahead by one at 2:09 before the Demon Deacons’ Liz Strunk converted on a pair of free throws at 1:32 to give the Deacs the lead. Tech’s Ingram then stole a pass by the Deacons’ Cotelia Bond-Young with 38 seconds remaining and hit a layup to give Georgia Tech a 38-37 lead with 33 seconds on the clock. On Wake Forest’s return trip down the floor, Jennifer Johnson mishandled a pass from point guard Porsche Jones, which forced the Demon Deacons to foul the Jackets.
Ingram had the chance to put the Jackets up by more with 22 seconds, but missed the front end of a 1-and-1, but a missed layup by Jones was rebounded by Jessica Williams which set up Higgs’ free throws with under 10 seconds remaining.
Higgs led the Jackets with 10 points in the contest, while Ingram added eight. Williams paced Tech on the boards with nine rebounds while Chioma Nnamaka pulled down eight while scoring seven points in the contest.
The 40 points scored by the Yellow Jackets ties for the third-lowest point total in Division I play, but was also the fewest points scored in a Georgia Tech victory; the Demon Deacons’ 37 points was the fifth-lowest mark ever against the Yellow Jackets.
The Yellow Jacket defense limited Wake Forest to just three field goals in the first half and held the dangerous three-point shooting Demon Deacons to just one from beyond the arc in the frame. Tech took a 24-14 lead into the locker room, led by Stephanie Higgs’ six points while Chioma Nnamaka added five in the half as the Yellow Jackets shot 40 percent in the frame while converting on 42.9 percent from beyond the three-point arc.
The Demon Deacons went on a 15-5 run to begin the second half to tie the game at 29-29 on a basket Strunk with 9:01 remaining on the clock. During that span, Wake Forest went to the free-throw line on eight occasions, converting five times, while the Yellow Jackets made it to the charity stripe on just two occasions.
Strunk scored 14 points for the Demon Deacons while Johnson led Wake with 13 rebounds.
The Yellow Jackets will return to Atlanta to host the NC State Wolfpack in a 7 p.m. contest Thursday night. The game will be broadcast on the Georgia Tech student station, WREK 91.1 FM, and online at www.wrek.org. Livestats will be available at www.ramblinwreck.com.
