Dec. 16, 2012
THE FLATS – Juniors Tyaunna Marshall and Dawnn Maye led Georgia Tech to a 76-49 victory over Alcorn State Sunday afternoon at McCamish Pavilion.
Marshall tied her career high of 28 points on 12-of-15 shooting and added five rebounds and three assists. Maye recorded her third career double-double with 12 points on 5-of-8 shooting and 10 assists, along with four rebounds and six steals. Freshman Aaliyah Whiteside tied her career-high with 14 points to go with eight rebounds.
Today’s win snapped a three-game losing streak, all of which came against top-15 teams, for the Yellow Jackets (4-5). Alcorn State dropped to 0-7 this season with the loss.
“Ty is one of the best players in the ACC,” head coach MaChelle Joseph said. “I’ve said it year in and year out. She has been really consistent this year, it doesn’t matter the level of competition, she plays at the same level. She had 23 points at Duke and 28 today, she brings the same game no matter who we’re playing against. I think she has been a great leader and example for these freshmen for how you approach the game, no matter who you’re playing. I thought she was pretty special out there today on both ends.”
“Dawnn played a complete game, she played hard on both ends,” Joseph added. “Defensively she got us going in the first half and I thought she did a great job leading her team. Those three losses really showed us our weaknesses and we were able to come out today and execute and run some things offensively and defensively that will help us in January and February.”
Alcorn State got on the board first, taking a 3-0 lead, but the Jackets ran off a six straight points to the first media timeout of the day. After the Lady Braves tied the score at 11 with 13 minutes to go in the first half, Georgia Tech reeled off a 19-3 run to take a 30-14 lead to the final media timeout of the first half.
Marshall had 15 points on 7-of-9 shooting in the first half, keying Tech’s 33-23 lead at intermission. The Yellow Jackets had 11 assists on 15 made field goals in the opening 20 minutes led by Maye’s five.
Tech shot 45.5 percent in the first half while holding the Lady Braves to just 29.0 percent in the opening frame.
Alcorn State cut the Jacket lead to six, 35-29, barely two minutes into the second half, but that was as close as the Lady Braves would get. Maye’s jumper capped an 11-0 run over the next five minutes and Tech never looked back.
The Tech defense held ASU without a field goal for nearly four minutes late in the second half to turn a 55-39 lead into a 67-42 advantage.
The Jackets finished the game shooting 47.0 percent, their best shooting game of the year. Joseph said following the game that over the 10-day break after the Duke game they looked at how to get more paint points and Tech responded today with a 46-20 edge in paint points. The Jackets’ signature press defense forced 25 Lady Brave turnovers, which led to 33 Jacket points.
The game was delayed by 17 minutes midway through the second half when the arena emergency system went off due to a fire in one of the concession areas.
The Yellow Jackets will host the Washington Huskies at noon on Friday, Dec. 21, in Tech’s final game before the holiday break.
Fans are encouraged to follow Georgia Tech women’s basketball on Twitter, @GTWBB, and like the Yellow Jackets on Facebook, GTWomensBasketball, for an inside look at the program.
–RamblinWreck.com–
