Nov. 30, 2005
ATLANTA – Behind Chioma Nnamaka’s first career double-double, the Georgia Tech women’s basketball team improved to 5-0 on the season with a 60-51 victory against Georgia State (1-2) Wednesday night at the GSU Sports Arena.
Nnamaka scored a game-high 22 points and pulled down a career-high 10 rebounds while shooting over 58 percent from the field against the Panthers, while junior guard Stephanie Higgs joined the sophomore in double figures with 11 points. The two players combined for 10 field goals, including four three-pointers, and went 9-for-13 from the free-throw line while helping Tech to its first five-game winning streak since late December of last season.
After pulling to within four points with 57 seconds remaining in the game, the Panthers were forced to foul Tech, and the Jackets responded by going 8-for-8 from the charity stripe over the final minute, while limiting Georgia State to just one field goal, a three-pointer by Monica Thomas, with 13 seconds remaining.
Sophomore point guard Jill Ingram converted on all six of her free-throw attempts, including four in the last minute of the game, while leading the Jackets with five assists. Senior forward Kasha Terry had a season-high four blocks in the game and also made two key field goals in the second half to help the Jackets to the win.
After leading 26-25 at halftime, the Yellow Jackets began the second half on a 12-4 run before Thomas scored six-straight points for GSU, pulling the Panthers to within five points at 40-35 with just over 10 minutes remaining in the game. Tech led 46-39 with six minutes on the clock when Ashley Strickland hit a three-pointer and converted on a three-point play, which pulled the Panthers to within one point at 4:59.
Tech held the Panthers to just two points in the first four minutes of the game, taking a 10-4 lead with 16:13 on the clock, but GSU allowed just two Yellow Jacket field goals over the next four minutes and went on a 12-4 run to tie the game at 14-14 with 9:52 remaining in the half. Chioma Nnamaka led all scorers with 13 points in the frame, converting on 5-of-7 from the field, including 3-of-4 from three-point range, while Kelcey Roegiers-Jensen paced the Panthers with eight points in the half.
Thomas led the Panthers with 19 points on the evening, while Strickland scored 13.
The Yellow Jackets will return to action Sunday when they travel to Athens to face the 17th-ranked Georgia Bulldogs in a game that will be televised live on CSS (Comcast SportsNet) at 2 p.m. The game can also be heard on the Georgia Tech ISP Sports Radio Network, 91.1 FM in Atlanta, and online at www.wrek.org, while livestats will be available at www.ramblinwreck.com.
