Dec. 3, 2010
ATLANTA – Head Coach MaChelle Joseph calls Alex Montgomery a “big-time player” and the senior co-captain proved her coach right in a 68-48 win over the Middle Tennessee State Blue Raiders at Alexander Memorial Coliseum on Friday night.
Montgomery posted game-highs of 16 points on 5-of-10 shooting and 10 rebounds for her third consecutive double-double and 13th of her career to lead Tech. The Tacoma, Wash., native showed she can do it all for the Jackets as she dished out a game-high tying five assists and plucked a contest-best three steals.
“Middle Tennessee is a good team, they were a Sweet 16 team a year ago,” Joseph said. “It was good to see our kids come out and compete the way they did; to not quit. We knew they weren’t going to quit and that we had to battle until the end.”
The contest got off to a back-and-forth start, which saw the Jackets jump out to a 4-0 lead in the first 1:05, but the Blue Raiders bounced back, putting together a 9-0 run to build a 9-4 lead at the 15:18 mark of the first stanza. Tech grabbed an 11-9 lead on a LaQuananisha Adams jumper at the 13:03 point and never looked back. The Jacket defense held the Blue Raiders without a field goal for 5:26 late in the first half, but managed only to turn a 19-16 lead into a 27-18 edge.
Tech went into the lockerroom with a 29-20 lead after 20 minutes and improved to 4-1 on the year when owning an advantage at intermission.
Freshman Tyaunna Marshall returned to her early season form, tossing in 13 points in only 19 minutes of action. It marked the first time Marshall has been in double digits since she scored 17 against Georgetown in Tech’s opening game of the Paradise Jam on Nov. 25, five games ago.
Point guard Metra Walthour continues to run the offense with efficiency, as the junior scored nine points and dished out four assists. Adams, who has come off the bench since Deja Foster’s return was extremely efficient in her action. Adams finished with nine points on 4-of-6 shooting and grabbed five rebounds in only 14 minutes. Foster had her first off game of her short season thus far, finishing with only two points and three rebounds, but tallied four assists.
Junior center Sasha Goodlett was effective in the paint against the smaller MTSU lineup as she finished with eight points on 4-of-7 shooting and added three boards. Junior Mo Bennett brought an energy boost to the lineup, hauling in eight caroms in addition to a pair of steals for Tech.
Tech has one more game on its docket before a two-week long hiatus.
“We’re looking forward to Sunday’s game,” Joseph added. “This is a big game. This is why we went out and played UConn, Tennessee and Georgetown, so that we’d be ready to play against Georgia.”
The Jackets will host the Georgia Lady Bulldogs at the AMC on Sunday. Tip-off is set for 2 p.m. and tickets are available at RamblinWreck.com.
–RamblinWreck.com–
