Feb. 28, 2015
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Junior Aaliyah Whiteside’s 18 points in the second half lifted the Georgia Tech women’s basketball team (17-13, 7-9 ACC) past Wake Forest (11-19, 2-14), 67-60, on Saturday afternoon at the LJVM Coliseum.
“I’m really proud of our team,” head coach MaChelle Joseph said. “I thought our kids grew up today. Aaliyah Whiteside had a huge second half and really put her team on her back and carried them at times while playing out of position. She was playing at the four position, which she hasn’t played at since the beginning of the season. She had to play there because of our serious foul trouble.”
Whiteside recorded her fourth double-double of the season, leading the Yellow Jackets in scoring with 18 points, rebounding with 11 boards and steals with three picks. Whiteside scored all of her 18 points in the second half.
“I really thought that Roddreka Rogers, for the minutes that she played, she was really effective,” Joseph said. “She was in serious foul trouble. Antonia Peresson had two big threes in the second half and Kaela Davis did a good job defensively, really helping us in the second half and leading the team on both ends of the floor.”
Including Whiteside, four Yellow Jackets scored in double figures against the Demon Deacons, marking the eighth time this season that four Jackets have scored at least 10 points. Sophomore Kaela Davis scored 13 while grabbing six rebounds and handing out three assists.
Davis, who now has 604 points this season, needs just six points to break the Georgia Tech record for most points scored in a single season. Former Jacket Tyaunna Marshall holds the record after she scored 609 points during the 2014-15 season. Davis has 1,198 career points which sits at 19th in the Georgia Tech record books.
Junior Roddreka Rogers scored 11 points and recorded five rebounds before fouling out with 6:26 left in the game. Rogers went 2-for-2 from the floor and 7-for-8 from the free throw line in 21 minutes of action.
For the second-straight game, sophomore Katarina Vuckvoic came off the bench to score in double figures, recording 10 against the Demon Deacons.
After leading for just 50 seconds in the first half, the Jackets came out in the second frame looking to take the lead for good. Wake Forest held their largest lead of the game in the beginning of the second half, leading by seven, 34-27.
The Jackets went 4-for-4 from the foul line in the opening minutes of the second half while both teams struggled to make a field goal for 5:56. Whiteside broke the field goal drought with a layup at 14:46 to pull Tech within three of the Deacons, 36-33.
At 12:40, Whiteside was fouled and sank both her free throws, which ignited a 14-4 Yellow Jacket run that put the Jackets ahead, 51-43 and lasted 2:40. Freshman Antonia Peresson hit back-to-back 3-pointers at the end of the game changing run.
The Demon Deacons would claw back, cutting their deficit to four points, 55-51, with eight minutes on the clock, but the Yellow Jackets put together a 7-0 run to take its largest lead of the afternoon of 11, 62-51.
The Deacons weren’t done yet, putting together their own run and outscoring the Jackets 9-0 to cut Tech’s lead to two points, 62-60. The Jackets held the Demon Deacons scoreless for the final 2:18 of the game and went 5-for-6 from the foul line in the last 1:19 to hold on to the 67-60 win.
The Demon Deacons were quick to take the lead at the beginning of the game, for Georgia Tech found itself in a 10-4 hole at 15:23 in the first half. A layup by Rogers and a 3-pointer from Davis closed the gap for the Jackets to one, 10-9.
The Demon Deacons went go ahead by six, 23-17, with five minutes left in the half but the Jackets responded by scoring four-straight points to cut their deficit to two. The Jackets caught up to the Demon Deacons and took their first lead of the game, 27-26, after Vuckovic hit a jump shot in the paint at 2:11. Wake Forest quickly regained the lead and took a 32-27 advantage into halftime.
Rogers, Davis and Vuckovic combined to score 23 of the Jackets first 27 points with Davis leading the Jackets in scoring in the first half with nine points.
The Jackets traveled to Wake Forest just two days after knocking off #16 Duke at home, 71-62, breaking a 37-game losing streak to the Blue Devils. Georgia Tech ends the 2014-15 season on a three-game winning streak and heads to the ACC Tournament this week. Following tomorrow’s games, the ACC Tournament bracket will be announced.
–TogetherWeSwarm–
