Jan. 21, 2011
DURHAM, N.C. – Georgia Tech wasn’t able to overcome a poor shooting night as it dropped a 69-32 contest in Durham, N.C., to the No. 3/3 Duke Blue Devils on Friday night at Cameron Indoor Stadium. The loss ends Georgia Tech’s record 13-game winning streak and drops the Jackets to 16-5 overall and 4-1 in ACC play. The Blue Devils improved to 18-0 on the season and 4-0 in league play.
While the Jackets were able to overcome poor shooting and a long scoreless drought in their last outing at Wake Forest, Tech was unable to accomplish the same feat on Friday against the Blue Devils.
The Jackets shot a season-low 28.6 percent while getting outrebounded, 45-32, for only the fourth time all year, but the second time in as many games.
Leading the Jackets was junior center Sasha Goodlett who tied for team-high honors with six points and grabbed a Tech-best eight rebounds. Freshman guards Tyaunna Marshall and Frida Fogdemark each tossed in six points for Tech.
“It started from the very first play when Alex Montgomery passed up an open shot,” head coach MaChelle Joseph said. “It kind of went downhill from there. Great players make plays. That’s why Jasmine Thomas is one of the top five players in the country. I have tremendous respect for her and what she’s done in her career here at Duke. She’s just a great competitor.
“For us to get outrebounded as poorly as we did, shoot as poorly as we did, that’s going to make for a bad night,” Joseph said. “Duke is a great defensive team. I thought in the first half, we both did a great job defensively. I thought in the second half, their key players came out and really made plays, and we weren’t able to recover.”
The first half was won on the defensive end and on the boards as neither side shot about 28 percent and Tech was held to a season-low of 15 first half points. The Blue Devils defense stifled the Jacket offense, often forcing Tech into poor looks as the shot clock ran low. Duke nearly recorded as many offensive rebounds, 11, as Tech did total rebounds, 15, in the opening frame.
Marshall and Goodlett were the only Jackets to make more than one field goal in the first half. Marshall, who has typically played well in big games this season, had six of the Jackets’ first 10 points. Goodlett was 2-of-3 from the field in the first half for four points.
Tech’s shooting woes continued in the second half as Duke opened the final 20 minutes with an 11-2 run over the first three and a half minutes with both Jacket points coming on a pair of Alex Montgomery free throws.
The Jackets will make a quick turnaround before hosting the Boston College Eagles in Atlanta on Sunday, Jan. 21. Tip-off is set for 1 p.m. at Alexander Memorial Coliseum with the ACC’s regional sports network airing the game. Tickets can be purchased by calling 1-888-Tech-Tix or by visiting 1-888-Tech-Tix.com. For more information, visit RamblinWreck.com or follow us on Twitter, @GTWBB.
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