Dec. 2, 2008
Game Notes | Gametracker | WREK Radio
ATLANTA – The Georgia Tech women’s basketball team opens a two-game homestand Wednesday against No. 21/24 Michigan State (6-1) as part of the 2008 ACC/Big Ten Challenge doubleheader at Alexander Memorial Coliseum. Tipoff for the women’s game is scheduled for 4:15 p.m., followed by the men’s game against Penn State at 7:30 p.m.
Fans can listen to Richard Musterer and Kurt Hoyt call all the action this weekend on WREK Radio (91.1 FM/www.wrek.org), Georgia Tech women’s basketball’s flagship station.
The Yellow Jackets (5-2) will meet the Spartans for the first time in the history of the program. Tech is 6-3 all-time against Big 10 opponents, including a 76-57 road win over Iowa last season as part of the inaugural Big Ten/ACC Challenge.
Michigan State is coming off its first loss of the season, a 78-72 defeat at No. 14/10 Notre Dame Saturday. Redshirt junior Aisha Jefferson set a career high with 34 points, while also adding 11 rebounds for her fifth career double-double.
This will mark the third nationally-ranked opponent Georgia Tech will face in its first eight games of the season. The Jackets fell at No. 1 UConn and to No. 9 Texas.
Due to the parking restrictions for the men’s game, women’s basketball fans should utilize Peter’s Parking Deck anytime after 3:15 p.m.
Fans can purchase tickets for Wednesday afternoon’s game at Gate 1 of the Coliseum. Tickets are $4 for adults, $2 for children 18 and under. Season tickets are on sale at www.ramblinwreck.com/tickets, or can be purchased on the AMC concourse. Women’s basketball fans interested in staying for the men’s game will be asked to locate an open seat at the conclusion of the game. Men’s ticketholders will be allowed into the women’s game free of charge.
NEXT UP: GEORGIA
The Yellow Jackets will renew their rivalry with in-state foe Georgia Friday, Dec.3 at Alexander Memorial Coliseum. Tipoff is slated for 7 p.m. Georgia Tech will unveil its 2008 NCAA Banner Friday prior to the game and it will honor numerous Georgia students for participating in the 2008 “Jacket 2 Jacket” reading program.
TECH VS. MICHIGAN STATE
• Georgia Tech will meet Michigan State for the first time on Wednesday.
• The Yellow Jackets are 1-0 in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge, defeating Iowa in Ames last season in the inaugural challenge.
• Tech is 6-3 all-time against Big Ten opponents.
• Georgia Tech head coach MaChelle Joseph holds the Breslin Center scoring record when she recorded 37 points against MSU on Feb. 15, 1991.
ARDOSSI LEADS JACKETS PAST TENNESSEE TECH, 68-56
Brigitte Ardossi scored a career-high 18 points to help the Georgia Tech women’s basketball team to a 68-56 win over Tennessee Tech in the consolation game of the FAU Thanksgiving Tournament Sunday afternoon.
Jacqua Williams finished with 16 points and a season-high six steals for Tech. Alex Montgomery added 10 points off the bench.
PICK A POCKET OR TWO
After three-plus seasons on the Flats, senior Jacqua Williams has earned the reputation as one of the best defenders in the nation. The speedster from Seattle, Wash., recorded her 279th career steal on Nov. 22, 2008 against Mississippi Valley State for a new school record, surpassing Kisha Ford and Tiffany Martin on the all-time steals list. Williams plans to obliterate the previous record over the next four months.
Last season, Williams finished with a single-season school record 118 steals, leading the ACC and ranking fourth in the nation with 3.8 per game. She has registered at least one steal in 45 straight games and even held the ACC single game record for steals with 11 (later broken by former Yellow Jacket Jill Ingram with 14). This season she leads the Jackets with 31 steals and has 292 on her career.
SENIOR CLASS PILING UP WINS
Georgia Tech’s 2008-09 senior class of Tabitha Turner and Jacqua Williams have been a part of 62 wins since beginning their careers on the Flats. The two Jackets have helped Tech to back-to-back record-setting seasons and are on pace to become the most successful class in the history of the program. With 8 more wins this season, the pair will accumulate the most wins by any senior class to ever play for the Yellow Jackets. Last year’s seniors finished with a school-best 69 wins in their careers.
AUSSIE, AUSSIE, AUSSIE … OYE, OYE, OYE
Junior Brigitte Ardossi started 26 games during her freshman season and helped the Jackets to their first win in the NCAA Tournament. Last season she was regulated to the first big off the bench and made the most of her opportunity by scoring 3.9 points per game and grabbing 2.8 rebounds in 14.5 minutes. Coach Joseph expects big things from her Aussie post-player in 2008-09 and has inserted her back into the starting lineup. She has played in 72 straight games, every game since coming to the Flats, and has started 33 of those games.
SHE CAN DO IT ALL
Anyone who watched Alex Montgomery play last season knows she can really do it all. She is not only the team’s top returning scorer (10.8) and rebounder (5.4), Montgomery has also shown she can dish it, steal it, block it or even win a jump ball. A starter of 26 games as a freshman, Montgomery has become the center of the Yellow Jackets offense. She is averaging11.8 points, has grabbed 5.2 rebounds a game and is shooting 40 percent from beyond-the-arc.
MOVING OUT
Sophomore Iasia Hemingway excelled as an undersized post player for the Jackets last season, scoring over 20 points against the likes of Maryland’s Crystal Langhorne and Tasha Humphrey of Georgia. This season, Coach Joseph has added some taller players to the Jackets roster that will allow Hemingway to take her game outside to the wing. Hemingway will now have a chance to not only post up players her height, she will also be able to take the ball to the basket and box out smaller guards for rebounds.
Hemingway is averging a team-leading 13.0 points and is registering 4.6 rebounds a game. She recorded her first career double-double against Georgia State (21 pts, 11 reb.) on Nov. 26, 2008. Hemingway has also shown a knack for getting to the free-throw line, with 45 attempts so far and is shooting 67 percent from the charity stripe.
GOODLETT IS GOOD
For the second straight year, Coach Joseph started a freshman on opening night. 6-5 Sasha Goodlett made a “big” impression on the coaching staff this preseason and has added a new dimension to the Yellow Jackets lineup. Joseph called her 2007-08 squad “the best 6-0 and under team in the country” but by adding Goodlett will give the Jackets the true center they have been missing. Along with Goodlett, Tech now lists five players at 6-2 or taller. Goodlett has started six of the Jackets first seven games.
SIXTH (WO)MAN
Most teams are lucky enough to have a solid starting five. This season, Joseph feels she can list six starters on her roster. Sophomore’s Deja Foster has shown the ability to step on the court and make an instant impact for the Jackets. Foster is averaging 22.2 minutes and started her first career game on Nov. 30, 2008 against Tennessee Tech.
STILL “MO”RE TO COME
Ranked as high as the 29th-best prospect coming out of high school, Mo Bennett has burst on the college scene with some impressive performances. In her debut, the Statesboro, Ga., native scored eight points and grabbed seven rebounds against Troy. Two days later, Bennett dropped 19 points in 30 minutes on No. 1 UConn at Gampel Pavilion. Members of the newly created ACC Blue Ribbon Panel were so impressed that they named Bennett the ACC Rookie of the Week on Nov. 17. Something tells me there will be “Mo”re to come.
YOUNG GUNS
The 2008-09 Georgia Tech roster is noticeably young with 10 players listed as sophomores and freshmen. Though young, the team is the most athletic team Coach Joseph has had since taking over at Georgia Tech.
