March 3, 2012
Box Score | Photo Gallery 1 | Photo Gallery 2 | Photo Gallery 3
GREENSBORO, N.C. – The fourth-seeded Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets advanced to the ACC Women’s Basketball Tournament finals for the first time in 20 years and the second time ever, defeating the ninth-seeded NC State Wolfpack, 87-61, Saturday afternoon in the Greensboro Coliseum.
The Yellow Jackets dominated from the beginning, shooting 69 percent from the field in the first half to lead 50-32 at intermission. They did not let up. The Jackets shot 53 percent for the game and out-rebounded the Wolfpack, 53-28, as they extended their winning streak to seven games.
“One of the things I said coming into this game and throughout the season is that we consider ourselves a blue collar team, a hard working team,” said Georgia Tech head coach MaChelle Joseph. “We pride ourselves on being one of the hardest working teams in the ACC and we feel like NC State is another team that night in and night out plays as hard or harder than we do. For us to come out and be able to win the game the way we did, I’m just proud of my kids for their efforts on the defensive end. I thought we did an outstanding job defensively throughout the course of the game.”
Ranked 15th nationally, Georgia Tech got contributions from players up and down its roster. Sophomore Tyaunna Marshall scored a game-high 20 points on 8-of-13 shooting and pulled down nine rebounds. Senior Sasha Goodlett recorded her eighth double-double of the year with 12 points and 10 rebounds. Senior Metra Walthour added 13 points and six assists. Eleven of the 13 Georgia Tech players who saw action made at least one field goal as the Yellow Jacket bench scored 32 points.
Sophomores Myisha Goodwin-Coleman (13 points) and Kody Burke (12 points) and junior Marissa Kastanek (10 points) led the Wolfpack, which shot just 31 percent from the field and dropped to 18-15 on the year.
Georgia Tech (24-7) will face third-seeded Maryland Sunday at 2:00 p.m. The game will air on ESPN2.
