March 2, 2014
Final Stats | GT Photo Gallery
THE FLATS – The Georgia Tech women’s basketball team (19-10, 9-7 ACC) closed out its regular season with an, 84-74, win against Boston College (12-18, 3-13 ACC) at McCamish Pavilion on Sunday afternoon.
“We had to gut that one out,” head coach MaChelle Joseph said. “It was a very emotional game. Also, any game you play without your point guard with a quick turnaround is tough. Thursday night we lost Sydney Wallace to an injury. To turn around and play a game without our starting point guard, especially against a zone and you don’t have one of your best 3-point shooters, I thought our players did a great job of persevering.”
The Yellow Jackets had three players score at least 20 points. Both freshman Kaela Davis and senior Tyaunna Marshall each scored 22 points against the Eagles while sophomore Aaliyah Whiteside added 21. The three 20-point performances by Davis, Marshall and Whiteside marks the first time three Jackets have each scored at least 20 points since Alex Montgomery (26), Janie Mitchell (20) and Iasia Hemingway (20) accomplished the feat against Maryland on Jan. 20, 2008. This was also the sixth time this season that both Davis and Marshall have each scored at least 20 points in the same game.
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“I thought Aaliyah Whiteside was huge off the bench,” Joseph said. “Kaela Davis really carried us in the first half and was really aggressive on the offensive end.”
Davis’ 22 points against the Eagles puts her just six points away from breaking Karen Lounsbury’s (1988-89) record of 539 points scored in a single season for a freshman. Davis has 534 points this season and is averaging 18.4 ppg, which leads all ACC rookies.
In her final game at McCamish Pavilion, Marshall recorded her 39th 20 point game of her career, which leads all active players in the ACC. Marshall is Georgia Tech’s all-time leading scorer with 2,066 career points. Against Boston College, Marshall surpassed Heather Burge of Virginia (1990-93) on the ACC all-time career points list to break into the top-20 in the conference record book.
Marshall and fellow senior Shayla Bivins, each recorded a team-high eight rebounds. Senior Dawnn Maye led the team in assists, dishing out seven, while grabbing one steal. Senior Frida Fogdemark started her first career game tonight. All four seniors were honored in senior day ceremony prior to the start of the game.
Whiteside tied her career-high today with 21 points against the Eagles. Whiteside shot 7-for-10 from the floor, adding two 3-pointers, and grabbed seven rebounds. This was Whiteside’s 11th game in double-figures this season and second 20-point performance in her career.
Boston College was the first to get on the board, jumping to a 7-2 lead thanks to five-straight points from Kelly Hughes. The Eagles would build on their lead, making it a 13-5 advantage. The Jackets were slow out of the gate but a layup by Whiteside sparked a game-changing run for Tech.
The Jackets put together a 12-0 run to take the lead for the first time in the game. Davis contributed six points during the run that put Tech ahead, 19-13. During the run, the Jacket defense held the Eagles scoreless for 5:04.
The Eagles would stay close to the Jackets through the remainder of the first half, taking back the lead at 2:57 but a quick 3-pointer for Whiteside on the other end put Tech back on top, 33-31. Whiteside scored 12 of her 21 points in the first half.
Davis would hit a 3-pointer and add a jump shot to put the Jackets ahead 38-34 before heading into halftime. The freshman scored 17 points in the first half alone.
An 8-2 run by the Jackets had Tech atop the Eagles, 48-40, 3:39 into the second half. The Jackets would continue to pull away from Boston College, taking an 11 point lead at 10:56, 61-50, on a layup by Maye.
The Eagles never let Tech get too far ahead, climbing within five points, 73-68, of Tech’s lead with just 4:25 remaining. The Jackets worked hard down the stretch, outscoring Boston College, 8-4, in the final two minutes of the game to secure their 19th win of the season.
Boston College was led by Nicole Boudreau, who scored 21 points and grabbed seven rebounds. Hughes also recorded seven rebounds, while scoring 17 points.
Next up, the Jackets travel to the ACC tournament which runs from March 5-9 at the Greensboro Coliseum in Greensboro, N.C. The Jacket received the seventh seed, which guarantees a first round bye. Tech will play the winner of No. 10 Virginia and No. 15 Boston College at 6 p.m. on Thursday. The game will be shown on the ACC Regional Sports Network.
–RamblinWreck.com–
