March 3, 2003
ATLANTA – Georgia Tech senior center Sonja Mallory made her “Senior Night” celebration a memorable one, as she scored a game-high 24 points and pulled down a game-best 12 rebounds to lead the Yellow Jackets (19-9, 8-8 ACC) to a 77-60 victory over Wake Forest (13-14, 3-13 ACC) on Monday night at Alexander Memorial Coliseum.
With the victory, the Yellow Jackets finish with the best regular-season record in school history and match the best ACC mark in the program’s history. Tech finishes the regular season tied for fourth place in the ACC with Florida State and will face the Seminoles as the fifth-seed in the upcoming ACC Tournament in Greensboro, N.C. The Jackets and ‘Noles will square off at 2 p.m. on Saturday in the first quarterfinal, which will be televised on the ACC Regional Sports Network.
“This was a great game for us,” said Tech head coach Agnus Berenato. “It was a long game, but we won and came out on top. I thought we had great intensity for most of the game. I think we came out with everyone trying to do too much on their own, but once we settled down, we played well.”
Against the Demon Deacons, Tech took control of the game early on and never looked back, as Mallory and junior forward Fallon Stokes led the way. Mallory netted nine of the Jackets’ first 13 points, as Tech sprinted to a 13-6 advantage with 15:49 remaining in the opening half. The Yellow Jackets upped their advantage to 22-14 with 11:39 remaining before putting together a 15-5 run over the next 9:16 to take a 37-19 lead with 2:23 to play. Stokes had four points and junior guard Megan Isom added six points in the span.
Mallory led all scorers in the opening stanza with her 14 points and six rebounds, while Isom added nine points and Stokes and rookie guard Mallorie Winn had eight apiece. Tech forced the Deacons into 13 first-half turnovers and recorded eight steals, while limiting Wake to just 35.7 percent shooting in the first half.
The second half was virtually even, as Wake would get no closer than with 13 on two occasions, with the second one coming at the 2:59 mark when a Tonia Brown three-pointer cut the Tech lead to 70-57. A jumper from Stokes and five points by Isom down the stretch allowed the Yellow Jackets to ice the contest and ensure the final margin.
“I’m really proud of Fallon and Sonja,” said Berenato. “Sonja has been solid as a rock for our program. I’m just so proud of my whole team. Our ball club is playing well right now and I feel like we’re starting to peak.”
Mallory led all scorers in the game with her 24 points and 12 rebounds to finish with her ACC-best 11th double-double of the season. She added a career-high-tying five blocks in the game as well. Stokes was also stellar for Tech, recording her second-straight 20-point outing, finishing the game with 23 points and a career-high four steals. Isom was the final Yellow Jacket in double figures, as she finished with 14 points, including a 4-of-7 performance from three-point range.
Eafton Hill and Bianca Brown led the Demon Deacons with 15 and 14 points respectively.
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