Feb. 29, 2008
ATLANTA – Jill Ingram set a new Atlantic Coast Conference record for steals with 14 to lead the Georgia Tech women’s basketball team (21-7, 7-6 ACC) to a 76-43 win over Virginia Tech (14-14, 1-12 ACC) Friday night at Alexander Memorial Coliseum.
The 33-point margin of victory set the Yellow Jackets all-time ACC record and the Hokies’ 43 points was their lowest point total in an ACC contest. Tech forced Virginia Tech into 37 turnovers and snatched 26 steals.
The night was led by Tech’s four seniors Chioma Nnamaka, Daphne Mitchell, Janie Mitchell and Ingram, who put on a record-setting final home performance. Playing in front of her parents who were visiting from Sweden, Nnamaka set a new career-high for three-pointers made in a single game with seven and finished with a game-high 27 points.
Daphne Mitchell set a personal-best ACC scoring mark finishing with 10 points. Ingram added four points and eight assists to go along with her record-setting steals mark. Janie Mitchell scored in double figures for the 23rd-time this season finishing with 16 points.
“I am so happy for our seniors tonight,” head coach MaChelle Joseph said. “They had a defining moment tonight. It was an inspiring performance by Daphne Mitchell and the rest of our senior class.”
Wearing specially designed 1979-style uniforms for “Throwback Night”, the Yellow Jackets entered halftime with a 28-27 lead after shooting just 35 percent from the field. Tech opened the second half on a 12-0 run over the first 3:30 minutes sparked by three lay-ups from Daphne Mitchell and a pair of three-point baskets from Nnamaka. From that point on the Jackets never looked back outscoring the Hokies 48-16 in the second half. Tech’s defense held the Hokie offense to just 30 percent shooting in the second half with Virginia Tech managing just six field goals in the second half.
“We need to regroup and refocus and get ready for a very good Virginia team on Sunday,” Joseph said.
Tech will close out the regular season will a trip to Virginia Saturday. Tip-off is scheduled for 2 p.m. at the John Paul Jones Arena. The pairings for next week’s ACC Tournament will be announced by the ACC Sunday evening following the Duke at North Carolina game.
– RamblinWreck.com –
