Jackets Face Duke in ACC Quarterfinals

March 7, 2014

The #7-seeded Georgia Tech women’s basketball team (20-10, 9-7 ACC) will face #2-seeded Duke (25-5, 12-4 ACC) on Friday at 6 p.m. at the Greensboro Coliseum in the quarterfinals of the 2014 ACC Tournament.

The game will be shown on the ACC Digital Sports Network (Fox Sports South in Atlanta) and fans can also listen to Richard Musterer and LaQuananisha Adams on WREK 91.1.

The Yellow Jackets advanced to the quarterfinals of the tournament after edging Virginia, 77-76, in the second round. The win gave the Jackets a 20-win season for the seventh time in the past eight seasons under head coach MaChelle Joseph. Against Virginia, Kaela Davis led the scoring effort with 28 points while Tyaunna Marshall recorded a double-double with 26 points and 10 rebounds.

This is the 29th appearance in Georgia Tech history in the quarter finals of the ACC Tournament. Overall the Jackets are 6-22 in the quarterfinals and 3-3 under Coach Joseph. The Jackets are in search of their first win against Duke in the ACC Tournament after going 0-5 against them in the conference tournament.

TECH TIDBITS
– Senior Tyaunna Marshall became Georgia Tech’s all-time leading scorer against #13/11 UNC on Feb. 6, 2014 after scoring 32 against the Tar Heels to break Kisha Ford’s record of 1,955 points. Marshall scored 20 points against Virginia to become the first Yellow Jacket and 24th ACC player to reach the 2,000 point mark. She currently has 2,092 career points.
– Marshall leads all active ACC players in career 20 point games with 40. She has 16 this season.
– Out of the Jackets’ 20 wins so far this season, 10 games have been won by 20 or more points with its biggest margin of victory being 50 points against Portland State.
– In 16 out of 30 games, the Jackets have scored at least 80 points. Tech is averaging 80.6 ppg.
– In 25 out of Tech’s 30 games, at least one Jacket has scored 20 points or more. Davis has scored 20+ in 13 games while Marshall has scored at least 20 in 15. Both Marshall and Davis scored more than 20 against UTEP, Clemson, #6 Maryland, #13 UNC, Virginia twice and Boston College. Wallace hit the 20-point mark against Miami and Florida State and Whiteside scored 21 at Notre Dame and against Boston College
-The Jackets were on a 15-game streak of outrebounding their opponents, until Virginia Tech edged the Jackets by one rebound. Tech has won the rebounding battle in 24 out of 30 games this season and average 44.8 rpg. The Jackets are 17-7 when they outrebound their opponent.
– The Yellow Jackets averaged an impressive 92 points per game at home during its non-conference portion of its schedule on its way to a 7-0 record at McCamish.

GEORGIA TECH IN THE ACC TOURNAMENT
The Yellow Jackets are 14-34 overall in the ACC Tournament and 9-10 under Coach Joseph. Under Coach Joseph, the Jackets are 3-3 in the quarterfinals. The Yellow Jackets are 0-5 against Duke in the ACC Tournament. Georgia Tech lost its regular season meeting against then #3-ranked Duke, 64-47, at home.

The Jackets advanced to the quarterfinals after escaping Virginia with a 77-76 victory in the second round. Freshman Kaela Davis led the Jackets on offense with 28 points while senior Tyaunna Marshall recorded her seventh double-double, scoring 26 and grabbing a team-high 10 rebounds. Sophomore Aaliyah Whiteside scored the game-winning basket on a three point play with just 13.5 seconds left.

A WIN WOULD…
– Make Coach Joseph 214-132 overall in her career
– Be the first win against Duke for Coach Joseph
– Snap a 36-game losing streak against the Blue Devils
– Make Tech 15-34 overall in the ACC Tournament
– Put the Jackets at 10-10 under Coach Jo in the ACC Tournament

BY THE NUMBERS
An inside look at the statistical differences in the Yellow Jackets’ wins and losses:
– In wins, Tech is averaging 87.2 ppg. In losses, the Jackets have averaged 67.6 ppg.
– In wins, Tech allows only 66.9 ppg. In losses, opponents have tallied 77.6 ppg.
– In wins, opponents are shooting only 37.8 percent from the field. In losses, opponents are shooting at 44.8 percent.
– In wins, Tech is out-rebounding opponents by 9.9 boards per game. In losses, Tech is being out-rebounded by 0.4 per game.
– In wins, Tech is averaging 28 free throw attempts per game. In losses, the Jackets are only getting 18 attempts from the stripe.
– In wins, Marshall is averaging 20.9 ppg and Davis is averaging 19.7 ppg. Marshall averages 17.4 ppg and Davis averages 16.8 ppg in losses.

GEORGIA TECH’S ALL-TIME LEADING SCORER
Senior Tyaunna Marshall became Georgia Tech’s all-time leading scorer against #13/11 North Carolina on Feb. 6, 2014 after scoring 32 points against the Tar Heels to break Kisha Ford’s record of 1,955 points. She hit two free throws with 4.3 seconds left to break the record and secure the Jackets’ first win against a ranked opponent since 2012. Marshall is one of just five Yellow Jackets all-time with at least 1,500 career points and 600 career rebounds. WIth 572 points this season, Marshall is the first Jacket to score 500 points in three-straight seasons.

Marshall became the first Yellow Jacket and 24th ACC player to score 2,000 career points after she scored 20 points against Virginia on Feb. 14. What is more remarkable is that Marshall has only made 20 3-pointers in her entire career – meaning that her 864 field goals and 344 made free throw shots. Marshall currently ranks 19th all-time in the ACC record book. Marshall leads all active ACC players in career 20 point games with 40. She has 16 this season.

ALL-ACC
Georgia Tech senior Tyaunna Marshall has been selected to the All-ACC First Team and freshman Kaela Davis has been selected to both the All-ACC Second Team and All-Freshman Team by the ACC’s Blue Ribbon Panel, which consists of media and school representatives.

Marshall is the first Yellow Jacket to be named to the All-ACC First Team twice in her career. The 5′ 9″ guard was honored as a junior on the All-ACC First Team and was the first Jacket to be named to the All-ACC First Team since Sonja Mallory was selected to the team in 2003. Marshall is just the fourth Jacket to earn All-ACC First Team accolades.

After a stellar freshman season, Davis has been named to both the All-ACC Second Team and All-Freshman Team. Davis leads all ACC rookies with her 18.7 ppg and leads the Jackets with 2.7 made 3-pointers a game. In her freshman season, Davis has recorded 14 20 point games and led the team in scoring in 15 games. Davis was named the Rookie of the Week four times this season.

DAVIS SETS FRESHMAN SCORING RECORD
Against Virginia in the ACC Tournament, Davis broke Karen Lounsbury’s (1988-89) freshman scoring record of 539 points with 562 points this season. She is just the third freshman to score 500 points in their first season on the Flats.

REWRITING THE RECORD BOOK
The Tech individual season record for most points scored in a season is 596 (Joyce Pierce 1991-92), putting Marshall just 24 points away from breaking it and Davis 34 points away from breaking it. Marshall’s 572 points this season has her in second in GT history for points in an individual season, while Davis checks in at third with 534.

The 2013-14 Jackets also have a shot at breaking the record for most total points scored in a season for GT. The Jackets have scored 2,419 points which is third in Tech’s single season record book. They need 132 points to break the record of 2,551 points which was set in the 1991-92 season over 33 games.