Nov. 16, 2002
Three consecutive trips to the postseason WNIT have been nice, but the Georgia Tech women’s basketball team is focused on earning an invitation to the Big Dance this season. For the Lady Jackets, their hopes are anchored in the middle with center Sonja Mallory.
The 6-5 senior has emerged as one of the conference’s top post players, as she earned second-team all-ACC honors last season after leading the team in scoring, rebounding and blocked shots.
Mallory’s task this season will not only include patrolling the lane, but also leading a team that has a core group of veterans supported by a talented eight-member freshman class. Gone are the team’s two leaders from last season, as guard Milli Martinez and forward Regina Tate graduated.
“Those are two great players,” said head coach Agnus Berenato. “What you have to replace is your heart and your workhorse.”
“Milli and Regina were tremendous leaders,” Mallory added. “Besides their basketball skills, their hustle was just unbelievable. Nina [Barlin] and I need to step into those roles.”
Early this season, Mallory will have to shoulder the load herself while Barlin recovers from knee and hand injuries. However, she is ready to take on the challenge.
“There’s pressure on everyone to step up, but that’s fine,” she said. “That comes with the territory if you want to be successful. I’ve a very emotional player, and I work extremely hard. I have to use that to guide this team.”
Mallory’s development as basketball player has been one of Berenato’s best coaching accomplishments. As a prep player at Brooklyn Tech in New York, Mallory was admittedly a raw talent.
Berenato recalls talking to Mallory on the phone during the recruiting process and being surprised at her basketball acumen.
“I’d talk about things like getting position on the block, and she didn’t understand what I was saying,” Berenato remembered. “She would completely get it when you put it on a piece of paper, but basketball wasn’t a natural thing for her then.
“What I really liked about her was that she had tremendous dedication, maybe not about basketball at that time, but I knew that was something special.”
Mallory admits that she knew very little about the program when she committed. Her older sister Jeanette was already a student, so that was a major factor in her choice.
“I didn’t realize how much of a perfect fit Georgia Tech was for me until I got here. I knew it was in the ACC and that the academics were great, but that was about it,” said Mallory, a chemical engineering major on track to graduate next fall.
She has steadily improved during her career and proved to be a model of consistency. Mallory has missed only six games in three seasons, which is especially important for a program plagued by injuries in recent years.
During her sophomore season, Mallory moved into the starting lineup and has been a fixture ever since. It was at that point that she began to play with more confidence and became a steady contributor.
Last season, she displayed periods of dominance, recording eight double-doubles in points and rebounding. Mallory capped the regular season with a career-high 33-point performance against Morris Brown.
“That was nice,” she noted, “but it’s in the past for me. My confidence really comes from working hard and spending time in the gym everyday.”
“She had tremendous potential,” Berenato said. “A lot of players don’t meet their potential, but she’s definitely getting there. She’s a natural-born leader, and she has a tremendous work ethic. Not only that, she really wants it.”
As the 2002-03 season tips off, Mallory and her teammates will battle a tough schedule, including the preseason WNIT. The ACC is again one of the best conferences in the nation, but the Lady Jackets feel they can finish in the top half and secure an NCAA berth, which would be the school’s second-ever invitation.
“On paper, it’s there,” Mallory stated. “We just have to do it. We have all the ingredients.”
