THE FLATS – A second-half offensive surge saw Georgia Tech women’s basketball fall to the Jacksonville Dolphins, 69-64, Sunday afternoon inside McCamish Pavilion.
Tech (2-2, 0-0 ACC) was led offensively by Talayah Walker who posted her third double-digit scoring game in the first four contests of the season with 15 on 6-for-10 shooting and five rebounds. Brianna Turnage joined her with 10 points and nine rebounds, finishing just short of her second collegiate double-double.
Inés Noguero led the Jackets with 10 boards and added six points to her ledger Sunday. Ariadna Termis had a team-best four assists.
The Dolphins (3-1, 0-0 Atlantic Sun) collected five third-quarter three’s and went to the free throw line 13 times in the fourth, leading to the win.
FIRST HALF
Noguero collected the first score of the game on a layup on the first Tech possession. Walker collected three points in the first few minutes to help Tech get to a 7-0 lead. Savannah Samuel added a pair of free throws to get the Jacket advantage to 9-0. Jacksonville finally broke through with a score with just under five minutes left to break the 9-0 Tech run. Back-to-back buckets from D’Asia Thomas-Harris extended the lead to 13-2 before JU managed its second score, 13-4, with 3:13 on the clock. The Dolphins managed a few additional scores before the first closed but the Jackets were ahead 17-12 at the break.
JU evened the game in the early stages of the second before Termis drilled a trey to get the Jackets back ahead, 20-17. Georgia Tech went on a 6-0 run to take a 26-19 lead. Back-to-back scores from Turnage and Thomas-Harris made a 10-point lead, 30-20. The Yellow Jackets forced the Dolphins to go 0-for-10 in a seven-minute span of the second before the Dolphins surged towards the end of the period. Tech led 34-26 at the half.
Turnage led the team in points (8) while Noguero had a team-high seven rebounds. Termis’ three assists led the Jackets.
SECOND HALF
Walker scored the first points of the second half to put the Jackets back ahead by 10, 36-26. JU managed a trey but it was answered by another three from Termis for her second of the day. A gritty back-and-forth third saw the Dolphins take their first lead of the day, 42-41, with under four left. Walker evened the game at 42 with a free throw then again at 45 after a three-point play. The Dolphins led 51-49 going into the fourth.
Samuel and Noguero collected buckets to even the game at 53 with under seven left on the clock. JU got up 55-53 before Turnage tied the game at 55 with five left. The Dolphins managed to quickly get ahead by four then an and-one play for Samuel made it a one-point game, 59-58. Tech evened the game again, now 60 apiece, on a layup from Jada Crawshaw. JU went on a quick 7-0 run and held on for the 69-64 win.