Nov. 19, 2004
ATLANTA – Freshman point guard Jill Ingram led all scorers with 13 points as Georgia Tech (1-0) defeated cross-town rival Georgia State (0-1), 72-30 Friday at Alexander Memorial Coliseum. Georgia Tech forced 26 Panther turnovers in the game while recording 18 steals and tied the school record for fewest points allowed in a contest.
Georgia State’s 30 points was the fewest since the Yellow Jackets held Maryland to the same amount on February 5, 1996. Along with her 13 points, Ingram paced the Jackets with six steals while committing no turnovers and dishing out a pair of assists. Chioma Nnamaka and Stephanie Higgs joined Ingram in double figures in scoring, with 11 and 10 points, respectively, while Jessica Williams led Georgia Tech with 11 rebounds.
Kasha Terry fell just one point shy of a double-double in the contest, as she had nine points and 10 rebounds against the Panthers. She also recorded six blocks, a steal and an assist while committing just one turnover.
The Yellow Jackets scored 26 points off Panther turnovers while Georgia State recorded just six points off eight Georgia Tech miscues. The Jackets also had 31 points from the bench, led by Higgs’ 10 and Janie Mitchell’s nine. The Jackets shot 31.9 percent in the contest, including 35.7 percent from the three-point line, while holding the Panthers to just 20.8 percent from the floor, and only 12.5 percent from beyond the arc.
“I’m just proud of our team and the way that we played defensively,” said Tech head coach MaChelle Joseph. “Our team has really bought into what we are trying to accomplish on defense. We’ve got several young players, and you can see that they play hard at both ends of the floor, not just on offense.”
With the score tied 4-4 at 16:14, the Yellow Jackets went on a 20-0 run, capped by a pair of free throws by Ingram with 5:40 remaining in the first half to take a 24-4 lead. Following a jumper by Robyn Gilbert, Georgia Tech used a 12-0 run to go up 36-6 at 2:51 and would eventually lead 43-12 at the half. Ingram and Mitchell paced the Jackets with eight points apiece, while Terry had five points, five blocks and nine rebounds in the frame. The Jackets shot 32 percent from the field, including 44 percent from beyond the three-point arc, and held the Panthers to just 17 percent from the floor. Georgia Tech turned the ball over just twice in the frame, but forced 14 Georgia State turnovers, which led to 15 points by the Yellow Jackets.
The Jackets outscored the Panthers 29-18 in the second half, and never let Georgia State score more than four consecutive points in either frame.
Patechia Hartman led Georgia State with 10 points in the game, while Gilbert led all players with 13 rebounds.
Georgia Tech will return to action Tuesday when it hosts Old Dominion at 6 p.m. at Alexander Memorial Coliseum. The game will be broadcast on WREK-Radio, 91.1 FM in Atlanta, and online at www.wrek.org, while livestats for the contest will be available at www.ramblinwreck.com.
