DULUTH, Ga. – A gritty and resilient effort from Georgia Tech women’s basketball fell just short of 6-seed Virginia Tech in the second round of the 2026 Ally ACC Women’s Basketball Tournament Thursday, 62-54, inside Gas South Arena.
After the Yellow Jackets (14-18, 8-10 ACC) stormed out to a 17-7 lead after one, the Hokies (23-8, 12-6 ACC) managed to get back in the game and used a strong second period to advance to the quarterfinals.
2026 All-ACC First Teamer Talayah Walker led all players with 20 points with eight rebounds, nearing another double-double. It marked her eighth-straight game scoring at least 16. La’Nya Foster followed her with 12 points, totaling 41 in the Jackets’ last three games. 2026 ACC All-Defensive Teamer Brianna Turnage collected 10 rebounds with six points. She was the only player on either side to reach double digits in the category Thursday.
Erica Moon, who has started every game for Tech in her redshirt-sophomore campaign, scored nine points and went perfect from the free throw line (3-for-3). Gwinnett County native and senior Catherine Alben led Tech with three assists.
Tech held the Hokies to just one make in their first 16 field goals on the night and 3-for-18 in the first, holding the 6-seed to a season-low seven first quarter points.
FIRST HALF
Turnage scored on a tough make in the paint for the game’s first points. The Jackets got out to a 4-0 lead before VT finally scored almost three minutes into the game. Ariadna Termis answered the Hokies’ first basket with a triple seconds later, making it 7-3. Four-straight points for the White and Gold increased the advantage to 11-3 on a three-point play drawn by Moon. She converted the free throw out of the 4:55 media timeout to make it 12-3. Foster’s triple cemented a 13-0 Jacket run with 90 seconds remaining before VT scored twice to slice the Jackets’ lead to 10 after the first, 17-7.
The Hokies started the second on a quick 6-0 run before Turnage hit a jumper to put Tech back up by seven, 19-12. Virginia Tech managed to take a 27-19 lead before Foster broke up the run with a jumper, 27-21. Each team scored two more free throws each as VT led 29-23 at the break.
SECOND HALF
Each team exchanged scores in the opening stages of the third with neither squad able to get on a run better than 3-0 in the first four minutes. Walker had seven of the Jackets’ first 10 points of the frame as Tech inched closer, 40-35, with 5:30 left. The Hokies led 44-37 at the 4:32 media timeout. VT scored four-straight out of the stoppage before Walker connected on a three-pointer to make it an eight-point game, 48-40. The Hokies got back up by 10 then Alben rattled off four-straight points by herself. Walker added a score with less than 90 seconds left to get within four after the third, 50-46.
Walker opened the fourth by making a bucket through contact to make it 50-48. Foster interrupted a 7-0 Hokie run with under four left to make it 57-50. Foster and Walker added one score each but the Hokies held on for the 62-54 decision.
Full Steam Ahead
Full Steam Ahead is a $500 million fundraising initiative to achieve Georgia Tech athletics’ goal of competing for championships at the highest level in the next era of intercollegiate athletics. The initiative will fund transformative projects for Tech athletics, including renovations of Bobby Dodd Stadium at Hyundai Field (the historic home of Georgia Tech football), the Zelnak Basketball Center (the practice and training facility for Tech basketball) and O’Keefe Gymnasium (the venerable home of Yellow Jackets volleyball), as well as additional projects and initiatives to further advance Georgia Tech athletics through program wide-operational support. All members of the Georgia Tech community are invited to visit atfund.org/FullSteamAhead for full details and renderings of the renovation projects, as well as to learn about opportunities to contribute online.
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