Jackets Host NC State in RSN Matchup on Senior Night

Feb. 25, 2004

ATLANTA – Georgia Tech will play in its final regular-season home game Thursday when it faces NC State at 7 p.m. on the Regional Sports Network. The game will be broadcast live on Fox Sports Net South in all states around the southeast excluding Tennessee and Kentucky and on the Sunshine Network in South Florida. Comcast Sports Southeast will air the game on a tape-delay basis beginning at 1:30 a.m. Calling play-by-play for the contest will be Beth Mowins, while Debbie Antonelli provides the color analysis. The game will also be aired on WREK-Radio, 91.1 FM in Atlanta and online at www.wrek.org with Richard Musterer and Kurt Hoyt, while NC State will broadcast on the Wolfpack-Capitol Sports Radio Network, including WKNC-88.1 FM Flagship and 850 the Buzz. Patrick Kinas will call the play-by-play with Kristen Gillespie voicing the color. Livestats for the contest will be available at www.ramblinwreck.com

The Jackets will honor the four seniors from this year’s squad prior to tip-off, as Megan Isom, Jasmina Pacariz, Alex Stewart and Fallon Stokes are all playing in their final season and are set to graduate in May.

Tech is coming off a 12-point loss against the 11th-ranked Tar Heels while NC State enters the contest riding a six-game winning streak.

Last Home Game for Tech Seniors

The Jackets will honor four senior players and one manager prior to tip-off in today’s game.

Alexis Barry, a senior from Gainesville, Florida, has spent four years as the Georgia Tech women’s basketball manager and will earn her degree in business management this summer. She hopes to work in advertising and marketing following graduation.

Megan Isom, a three-year player for the Jackets following her transfer from Tennessee Tech, concludes her career as one of the top three-point shooters in school history. She stands fourth all-time in made three-pointers by a Tech player and also stands in the top 25 in the Atlantic Coast Conference category. The Decatur, Georgia, standout will receive her business management degree in May and hopes to pursue a career working with children after she leaves Georgia Tech.

Stockholm, Sweden native Jasmina Pacariz concludes her four-year career as a Yellow Jacket after providing valuable leadership as a team captain for Georgia Tech. She will graduate in May with a degree in international affairs and hopes to attend graduate school in the fall.

Fifth-year senior and Tech point guard Alex Stewart will leave Georgia Tech with the most games played in school history and as one of the top assists leaders in Yellow Jacket and ACC history. A senior from Norcross, Georgia, she is just one of three players in Tech history to record a triple-double in a game, and the only one to do so coming off the bench. A third-team all-ACC selection a year ago, Stewart will be graduating in May with a bachelor’s degree in international affairs.

Atlanta native Fallon Stokes concludes her four-year career at Tech standing seventh all-time in scoring. An all-ACC and all-ACC tournament selection a year ago, Stokes has started more than 80 games as a Yellow Jackets and has played in more than 100 consecutive contests. A public policy major that will earn her degree in May, she hopes to play professionally and then pursue a career in law.

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Series Notes

* NC State leads the series with the Jackets, 37-14 and owns an 15-8 record against Georgia Tech in Atlanta. The Yellow Jackets and Wolfpack first met on January 12, 1980 in Raleigh, with NCSU taking the victory, 97-38. The Jackets’ 38 points in that contest still stands today as the fewest points Georgia Tech has ever scored in a women’s basketball game.

* The Wolfpack won the first game in Atlanta the following month, taking home a 99-48 win. NC State actually won the first 16 contests between the two teams, as the Jackets’ first victory came in 1988, 94-74 at Alexander Memorial Coliseum. The 94 points against State in that game still stands today as the most points Tech has ever scored against the Wolfpack.

* Prior to the Wolfpack’s four-point victory in Raleigh earlier this season, the Jackets had won three consecutive games against NC State, with two of the three being in Atlanta. Tech’s last win against the Wolfpack was in Raleigh in the final meeting between the two teams last season, as the Jackets took home a 78-60 victory.

* The Wolfpack’s highest point total against the Jackets was in a 100-70 win in Raleigh on January 7, 1989. The fewest points that the Jackets ever scored against an NC State team came in the series-opener, while State’s lowest point total came in a 69-52 loss to the Jackets in 2000. That total also stands as the sixth-lowest point total in NC State history in a conference game and eighth-lowest overall.

* There has only been one overtime game in the history of the series, with the Jackets winning the double-overtime thriller, 92-89, at Alexander Memorial Coliseum on February 19, 1993. That contest was also the last time that Georgia Tech has played in a double-overtime game.

* The last time that the Wolfpack swept the yearly series was in 2000-01.

Jackets vs. Wolfpack: Last Time Out

Kendra Bell and Ashley Key scored 17 points apiece as four Wolfpack players scored in double figures in NC State’s 75-71 victory over Georgia Tech earlier this season. Key hit 3-of-6 three pointers while Bell was perfect on both of her attempts from beyond the arc. Also scoring in double figures for the Wolfpack were Kaayla Chones and Sasha Reaves, with 14 and 11 points, respectively. NC State scored seven consecutive free throws with less than a minute remaining in the game to hold off the Jackets comeback. During that time, Megan Isom and Fallon Stokes hit a pair of three-pointers while Kasha Terry and Alex Stewart added layups. Over the final eight minutes, there were six ties and 10 lead changes and neither team led by more than two points during that time until the Wolfpack hit the free throws at the end of the contest. The Yellow Jackets shot 46.8 percent from the field, including 63.6 percent from the three-point arc. Isom hit four threes while Stokes added two in the contest. Stokes led all scorers with 24 points while Isom and point guard Alex Stewart added 18 and 17 points, respectively. Georgia Tech jumped out to a 40-30 lead early in the second half thanks to a pair of three-pointers by Stewart and Megan Isom. State then scored three straight baskets to pull within four points in the game before the Jackets would score to make the score 44-38. The Wolfpack scored five straight free throws to pull within one point at 9:21. After Stokes hit a jumper to put the Jackets up by three, Key hit a shot from beyond the arc to tie the game at 46-46.

Tech Record Book Versus NC State

* The 1988 Tech team set the record for most three-pointers in a contest when they hit 10 against the Wolfpack. Exactly one year later, the Jackets tied the record and it held until 1995 when Tech hit 11 threes against Maryland.

* Tech hit 34 of 44 free throws against NC State in 1993, which is still stands fourth in most free throws in a game for the Yellow Jackets.

* In 1988, the Jackets set the record for the fewest free throws in a contest, with six against NC State on January 12. The mark stands tied for fourth for fewest free throws attempted in a contest today.

* On February 15, 2001, the Jackets turned the ball over just seven times in the entire game against State, which was just one off the Tech record for fewest turnovers in a game.

* Georgia Tech has had two players to score at least 30 points in a single contest versus the Wolfpack. Marielle Walker had 34 points against State on January 9, 1988 while Karen Lounsbury had an even 30 on February 18, 1989.

* Betsy Foy’s 10-for-10 performance from the charity stripe against State in 1998 tied the record for best free throw percentage in a game Georgia Tech player in a game. She shares the honor with Joyce Pierce, who hit 17-of-17 against Hawaii in 1992, and Alex Stewart, with 10 against St. John’s in 2002.

* Three NC State opponents have recorded 30-point games against the Jackets, including 31 by current Wolfpack player Kaayla Chones, 31 by Chasity Melvin, and 37 by Andrea Stinson.

Looking at the Wolfpack

NC State won its sixth-straight in its last game with a 65-55 victory over visiting Florida State. Senior Kaayla Chones led all scorers with 16 points and a game-high nine rebounds. Chones converted a three-point play early in the second half and then senior Nanna Rivers forced a Seminoles turnover and hit Kendra Bell for a transition layup to jump out to a 38-35 lead. Rivers returned the favor as she too went to the line for a three-point play to give the Pack a seven-point lead with 13 minutes to go. The Seminoles pulled within four before Marquetta Dickens hit back-to-back jumpers and converted a three-point play within a minute and a half. Rivers sealed the win after hitting two insurance free throws with 33 seconds left. Her 7-of-7 performance from the night helped the Pack to a 65-55 victory. She and Bell finished with 13 points apiece. The Wolfpack shot 55.6 percent from the floor in the second half, while holding FSU to just 32 percent. The win was State’s eighth out of its last nine games, including four-straight at home. Leading the way this season for the Pack is all-ACC candidate Kaayla Chones. She is averaging 15.0 points per game, including 15.4 per ACC contest while leading the team with almost eight rebounds per contest. She has blocked 23 opponent shots this season and also leads the team with 32 steals on the year. She has made more than half of her shots this season, shooting 52 percent from the field while converting on almost 65 percent from the charity stripe.

Last Time Out for the Jackets

North Carolina shook off a sluggish offensive performance and gave Sylvia Hatchell her 650th coaching win, beating Georgia Tech 58-46 on Monday. Camille Little and Ivory Latta scored 13 points each for the 11th-ranked Tar Heels, who reached 20 wins for the third straight year and seventh time in the last eight seasons. North Carolina, which came in averaging 75.5 points per game, committed 21 turnovers and managed just three points during a nine-minute stretch in the first half, before Candace Sutton had two baskets to spark a 14-1 run. That gave the Tar Heels a 22-13 lead late in the half, and they opened the second half with a 6-2 run, pushing the margin to 31-19. The Yellow Jackets put up a 13-2 run early in the second half and regained the lead at 39-38 on Megan Harpring’s jumper from the lane. Harpring also hit one of three 3-pointers for Tech in the run. Tech led 44-42 after Kasha Terry hit two free throws, but North Carolina went on a 14-4 run in the final 4:34 to seal the win. Alex Stewart scored 18 points, matching her career high for Georgia Tech.