Nov. 30, 2002
ATLANTA – Georgia Tech senior center Sonja Mallory recorded her second double-double of the season with a career-high-tying 33 points and 12 rebounds to lead the Yellow Jacket women’s basketball team to a 78-62 victory over Miami (Ohio) in the championship game of the Atlanta Marriott NW Classic on Saturday afternoon at Alexander Memorial Coliseum in Atlanta, Ga. For the tournament, Mallory finished with 55 points and 21 rebounds to garner MVP honors.
“I think this is a great win for our team,” said Tech head coach Agnus Berenato. “It was important for us to play well against a team that may very well get to the NCAA Tournament out of the Mid-American Conference. Yesterday we got to work on a lot of things, but today we knew we would have to fight to get a victory. I think we were able to wear them down as the game went along. I’m really proud of the whole team’s effort today.”
The Yellow Jackets (4-1) took control of the game early on, opening the contest with a 12-0 run over the first 4:18. In the span, Tech forced five RedHawk (3-1) turnovers and received four points from both Mallory and junior forward Fallon Stokes during the run. After Miami closed the score to 18-10, the two teams traded baskets, with Tech holding a 34-23 lead with 3:25 to play in the first half. The Jackets settled for a 37-25 halftime advantage, as Mallory led all scorers in the period with 13 points and six rebounds. Stokes added nine points in the first stanza for the Jackets.
“Sonja is getting better and better every day,” said Berenato. “Along with what she’s doing offensively and defensively, she is really becoming a leader for our team on the floor. She is playing hard even though she’s being double and triple teamed down low and she has really stepped up for us this year.”
Mallory took over the game in the second half, scoring 20 of her 33 points after the intermission. With the Jackets holding a 45-35 lead with 15:25 to play, Mallory netted nine of the team’s next 10 points, to give Tech a 66-50 lead with 5:47 left. Over the next 2:09, the Jackets took over the game, putting together a 10-2 run to stretch its advantage to 76-52. In that spurt, Mallory was the key, scoring seven of Tech’s points over the span. The RedHawks closed the score to the final 78-62 margin with a 10-2 run of their own over the final 3:38, behind five points from guard Heather Cusick.
Mallory matched her career-high with the 33 points, equally her scoring total against Morris Brown in the 2002 regular-season finale. She completed the double-double with her 12 boards and added two blocks in the contest. Stokes was the only other Yellow Jacket in double-figure scoring, as she finished with 16 points and eight rebounds, to join Mallory on the all-tournament team. Junior Megan Isom nearly recorded a double-double, finishing with nine points and a career-best 10 assists, to go along with two steals.
“I think that Megan Isom did a great job today against Cusick,” said Berenato. “To hold the MAC Conference Player of the Year to four points through 35 minutes was great. Megan did a great job of taking her out of the game. Along with what she did on the defensive end, she hit a three to put us up 64-50 that was really big. To have 10 assists and no turnovers as well is just great. She has really stepped up her game of late.”
Melanie Kozlowski led Miami in the game, finishing with 17 points, 12 of which came from behind the three-point arc.
Georgia Tech will look to extend its win streak to four, when it hosts Mercer on December 5 at 7 p.m. at Alexander Memorial Coliseum.
ATLANTA MARRIOTT NW ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAMSonja Mallory, GT, MVPFallon Stokes, GTAlex Stewart, GTKim Lancaster, MiamiHeather Cusick, MiamiJolie McKiernan, Arkansas State
