Feb. 13, 2010
ATLANTA – The 21st-ranked Georgia Tech Women’s Basketball team (20-5, 6-3 ACC), who has strung together a four-game win streak, will host No. 10/10 Florida State (21-4, 7-2) Monday. The game, which will be televised on the ACC Regional Sports Network (Fox Sports South in Atlanta), is scheduled to tip at 7:05 p.m.
Gameday Central
Game #26 Date: Monday, February 15, 2010Opponent: No. 10/10 Florida State SeminolesTip-Off: 7:05 p.m. ETSite: Alexander Memorial Coliseum (9,191)TV: RSN/Fox Sports South in AtlantaTalent: Jenn Hildreth (pbp) and Debbie Antonelli (analyst)Radio: WREK 91.1 FM/www.WREK.orgTalent: Richard Musterer (pbp) and Kurt Hoyt (analyst)Live Stats: www.RamblinWreck.com.com via GametrackerTickets: $2 Tickets
GEORGIA TECH VS. FLORIDA STATE
• The all-time series is knotted up at 18-18.
• The Seminoles have won four of the last five meetings in the series.
• The Jackets defeated Florida State, 83-73, two seasons ago in the last game played in Atlanta.
• The Yellow Jackets are 149-328 (.312) all-time against ACC opponents.
ACC HERE WE COME
The Yellow Jackets, who finished the last year’s conference scheduled with an 8-6 record, are 6-3 in the ACC portion of their schedule in 2009-10. The Jackets are 30-21 (.588) over the last three-plus seasons against ACC teams during the regular season. The Jackets will close out their two-game homestand Friday when they play Duke at 8:30 p.m.
20 IS THE MAGIC NUMBER
With a 68-53 victory last Monday night at Clemson, the Yellow Jackets have won at least 20 games in four straight seasons for the first time in school history. Tech has only topped 20 wins seven times in its history and six times since joining the ACC prior to the 1979-80 season. The school record for wins is 23 set in 1977-78 (prior to ACC membership). Since joining the ACC, Tech has topped out at 22 wins the last two seasons.
COUNTDOWN TO 1,000
Alex Montgomery, an All-ACC third team member a year ago, is only 10 points shy of becoming the 23rd player in Yellow Jacket history to reach this milestone. Montgomery, who has scored 245 points this season, finished with 335 points her freshman season and added 410 as a sophomore. (GT All-Time 1,000 point Scorers List on page 7)
MONTGOMERY KNOCKS THEM DOWN FROM LONG RANGE
Alex Montgomery has become one of the most prolific three-point shooters in Georgia Tech history. She has knocked down 156 in her career, which is good for fifth all-time. She is shooting .355 (8th all-time) from three-point range for her career. Over the 20 games she has played this season, Montgomery has shot 52-144 (.361) from beyond the arc. Montgomery ranks second in the ACC in 3-pointers made this season with 2.6 per game. Her five three-point baskets vs. Wake Forest tied a career-high.
SENIOR CLASS WINNINGEST CLASS IN GEORGIA TECH HISTORY
The 2009-10 senior class, Brigitte Ardossi and Tiffany Blackmon, have been part of 85 wins in their three plus seasons on the Flats, which is the all-time class record. The Jackets seniors have topped last year’s senior class, who had 79 wins between them, to become the winningest senior class in the history of the women’s basketball program.
ARDOSSI THE AUSSIE
Senior Brigitte Ardossi, if nothing else, has been extremely consistent over her three-plus seasons on the Flats. The Melbourne, Australia native has played in all 122 games since she came to Tech and has started 74 of them. She ranks seventh all-time in Tech history in field-goal percentage by shooting .494 (311-630) from the field.
This season, coach Joseph is seeing a big return from her senior “enforcer”. She is putting up 15.0 points and 7.5 boards per game so far and has connected on 101-123 (.821) free-throw attempts, which currently leads the ACC, in a career-high 30.0 minutes a game. Ardossi has scored in double figures in 18 straight games and 23 of the Yellow Jackets 25 contests this season. She has also recorded five double-doubles on the year, including her 29 point, 17 rebound outburst in the Jackets 80-73 overtime victory over Miami on Jan. 27, 2010.
After leading the Yellow Jackets to pair of ACC victories, Ardossi was named the ACC Player of the Week for the first time in her career on Feb. 1, 2010.
DEJA VU – FOSTER SHOWING IMPROVEMENT ON PREVIOUS SEASON
Just like 2008-09, junior Deja Foster has shown improvements on her previous season. Though her scoring average has not jumped eight point like the previous season, she has put up career-highs in points (10.0), rebounds (6.5) and assists (3.8) over the first 25 games of the season. Foster has notched three double-doubles this season and grabbed a career-best 14 rebounds in win over Army.
Foster has played so well this season, she is currently one of only two players (Shenise Johnson, Miami) in the ACC to rank in the top 30 of scoring, top 20 of rebounding and top 10 of assists.
CONSISTENTLY GOODLETT
Sophomore center Sasha Goodlett continues to grow into one of the best bigs in Georgia Tech history. Goodlett has scored in double-figures 10 times in 2009-10, including a career-high 21 points at Oklahoma State. In ACC play, Goodlett is averaging 11.6 points a game and is shooting .466 (41-88) in those contests. She notched her second career double-double in the overtime win over Miami.
WALTHOUR MAKING A POINT
Sophomore Metra Walthour has had a breakout season in 2009-10. The point guard has started 20 of 25 games for the Jackets and is playing a team-high 30.3 minutes a game. She is scoring 4.6 points and is dishing out 3.1 assists a contest. She is also ranked second in the ACC in Assist/TO ratio with a 1.6 ratio (78 assists – 49 turnovers). Walthour has also bought into Coach Joseph’s defense and has recorded 49 steals, including a career-high seven in win at Clemson.
THE `MO’TER IS RUNNING
While junior Alex Montgomery was out with an injury, sophomore Mo Bennett filled in admirably for the All-ACC wing. Bennett has shown her ability to score (career-high 21 points vs. Winthrop) and the ability to rebound (career-high 13 rebounds vs. FGCU). Bennett put it all together in a win at Kennesaw State with her first career double-double (23 pts, 11 reb). She is scoring 7.2 a game and is grabbing 5.0 rebounds a contest. She also has recorded 48 steals and 47 assists in 25 games. Bennett, who is only 5-10, has registered at least seven rebounds in seven games this season.
94 FEET WITH THE JACKETS
Over the past two seasons, Georgia Tech has led the NCAA in steals per game. This has to be credited to Coach Joseph’s pressing defense. Joseph will press for 40 minutes with numerous pressing schemes to keep the offense offbalance. Joseph wants her team to “be an impressive running defensive team that creates opportunities for the offense.” The team has totaled 890 steals the past two years, good for 13.9 per game. Under Coach Joseph, the Yellow Jackets have registered the three top seasons for steals in school history.
The Yellow Jackets have started 2009-10 with 284 steals (11.4 spg) in 25 games.
TURNING TURNOVERS INTO POINTS
The Yellow Jackets not only take the ball away from their opponents, they also put the ball in the basket after those turnovers. Through 25 games, Georgia Tech has scored 526 points off turnovers (21.0 per game) this season.
HOME-COURT ADVANTAGE
Since Joseph began her tenure, Georgia Tech is 80-22 (.784) at Alexander Memorial Coliseum. Last season, Tech finished with a 13-2 mark on the Coliseum floor. Tech has won its first 11 games at home in 2009-10 and is scheduled to play 14 games during the season.
NOT BAD ON THE ROAD EITHER
The Yellow Jackets are 7-5 on the road in 2009-10. The record does not stand out next to the team’s home mark but it is only the third time in school history that the Jackets have won seven road games in a season (1999-00 and 2007-08). With two more road games remaining, Tech will just need to win of those meetings to hold the the most road victories in a season in the program’s history.
TECH ENTERS SEVENTH SEASON UNDER COACH JO
Coach MaChelle Joseph, who is entering her seventh season at Georgia Tech, has already recorded the second-most wins in Tech history. Joseph has registered a 125-81 (.607) record and is the fastest coach in school history to win 100. She has led Tech to its three straight 20-win seasons and three straight NCAA Tournaments, both firsts for the Yellow Jacket program. Joseph registered her 100th victory on Feb. 1, 2009 against Clemson.
500 DOWN, NOW ON TO THE NEXT 500
The Georgia Tech women’s basketball program earned its 500th all-time victory when it defeated the Maryland Terrapins, 61-60, on Feb. 5, 2010 in College Park, Md. Over the 35-plus seasons of women’s basketball on the Flats, Tech is 501-508 (.497) in 1,009 games. Since the 2000-01 season, Georgia Tech has won 175 games (34.9 percent of all wins).
