THE FLATS – A strong start coming out of the halftime locker room helped Georgia Tech women’s basketball roll to a 58-55 victory over the Clemson Tigers Sunday inside McCamish Pavilion.
Trailing 30-25 at the intermission, the Jackets (8-10, 3-3 ACC) cruised to a 12-2 run to open the second half and held the Tigers (12-6, 3-3 ACC) to a season-low six third quarter points on their way to a seventh home win this season.
Brianna Turnage once again made her presence known on the glass, capturing a career-high 18 rebounds. Not to be outdone, Talayah Walker added 22 points for her sixth-straight game scoring at least 20 – and an ACC-leading fifth in conference action. Ariadna Termis had 10 rebounds of her own, her second game with double-digit boards in her career and first this season.
Leading the strong third quarter for the Jackets was La’Nya Foster, who had eight of Tech’s points on the 12-2 third quarter run. She finished with 11 on the night. Erica Moon’s seven assists led the team. Turnage also had a team-high three blocks.
The victory extends Tech’s home win streak over rival Clemson to 12 games, now having captured 23 of the last 28 in the series. Clemson is the opponent that Tech has faced the most in program history with Sunday’s meeting being the 98th rendition. The Yellow Jackets now boast a 51-47 series lead.
Tech disrupts a Clemson streak that had the Tigers victorious in seven of their last eight entering Sunday. A crowd of 6,125 was on-site at McCamish for the Jackets’ third ACC win and fourth victory in the last five games – the second-most on-hand for a women’s basketball game at the Pavilion.
FIRST HALF
Clemson collected a trey for the game’s first points while Walker added a bucket moments later for the first Yellow Jacket score of the afternoon. She scored a triple a minute later to even the game at five apiece with seven minutes on the clock. Then after the Tigers got ahead 8-7, Termis drilled a trey to give the Jackets their first lead, 10-8. The game was all even, 10-10, at the 4:29 media timeout. Tech forced an air ball on the defensive end then Walker’s drive to the rim drew an and-one play, putting Tech in front again, 13-10. Four-straight points for Tech following a Clemson bucket saw the Yellow Jackets take a 17-12 lead with around two minutes left. Clemson closed the frame on a run to lead 19-17.
The Tigers struck first in the second quarter before Walker sank another triple, getting Tech within one, 21-20. Two minutes later, Moon scored a long jumper and put Tech ahead again, 22-21. Clemson took a slim lead before the Jackets evened the game at 23 on free throws from Savannah Samuel. The Tigers got to 28 points and held a five-point lead before a drive to the basket by Moon broke the run, now 28-25. Clemson led 30-25 going into the half.
SECOND HALF
A score from Foster sliced the score to 30-27 in the first Yellow Jacket possession. Two free throws from Turnage then cut it to one, 30-29, with seven-and-a-half left. Foster’s aggressive play saw her grab back-to-back scores to put Tech ahead, 33-32, with under six remaining in the third. She collected a third-straight score to extend the lead to 35-32. Coming out of the 3:45 media timeout, Walker sank a pair of free throws to make it 37-32 and capping a 12-2 GT run to open the second half. The Tigers managed back-to-back scores of their own to make it a one-point game again, 37-36. Termis added a midrange jumper with around a minute left to make it 39-36 – a score that held going into the final period.
A minute into the fourth quarter, Foster sank a free throw to make it 40-36. A steal-and-score from Catherine Alben forced the Tigers to burn a timeout with the Jackets ahead, 42-36. Out of the timeout, Alben drilled a triple to extend the lead to 45-36. Clemson finally managed two scores going into the 4:47 media timeout to make it 45-40 and tied it with four minutes left at 45 apiece. A tough make in the paint from Termis put Tech ahead again, 47-45, with under three left. A second-chance attempt from Walker drew a momentum-grabbing and-one play to put the Jackets in front by five, 50-45. Clemson managed a trey to get back within two, 50-48 with under a minute remaining. Turnage made a paint jumper out of an official review to make it 52-48. After Clemson missed a shot to make it a one-possession game, Moon made two free throws to extend the advantage to 54-48. The Tigers then sank two free throws to get within four, 54-50. With 11 seconds left, Walker was sent to the charity stripe where she made both to get to 20 points with Tech leading now 56-50. Another score from the Tigers was followed by two more free throws from Walker to make it 58-52. Clemson scored a trey as time expired but it would not affect the result, 58-55.
GAME NOTES
- Georgia Tech improves to 7-3 at home this season.
- Georgia Tech shot 16-for-19 from the free throw line Sunday, adding to an impressive stretch at the charity stripe.
- Georgia Tech out-rebounded Clemson, 45-36, for the game and 16-6 in the third. In that third quarter, the Jackets allowed zero Clemson offensive rebounds.
- Walker finished 10-for-10 at the free throw line, including 7-for-7 in the fourth.
- 6,125 were on hand for Sunday’s game, the second-most for a Tech women’s basketball game at McCamish and fifth-most for a Tech women’s basketball home game all-time.
UP NEXT
The Yellow Jackets are next up against the Duke Blue Devils in Durham, N.C. Sunday, Jan. 18 at 6 p.m. on the ACC Network.
Tech is back on home court Thursday, Jan. 22 against North Carolina. Tip-off is slated for 8 p.m. on the ACC Network. Fans can purchase tickets here.
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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