Jan. 12, 2005
ATLANTA – The Georgia Tech women’s basketball team will host Maryland Thursday at 7 p.m. in hopes of securing the program’s 400th win in its 31st season of play after dropping 61-38 decision to the Virginia Cavaliers Monday evening. Thursday’s game will be contested at Georgia Tech’s Alexander Memorial Coliseum and will be broadcast on the Georgia Tech student radio station, WREK-91.1 FM, and online at www.wrek.org. Richard Musterer calls the play-by-play for all Georgia Tech radio broadcasts while Kurt Hoyt provides the color commentary. Livestats for the contest will be available at www.ramblinwreck.com.
The Yellow Jackets enter the contest with a 10-3 record on the season, including a 1-1 mark in conference play, while the Terrapins enter at 11-2 on the year after earning their first conference win of the season against fifth-ranked North Carolina Sunday.
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Georgia Tech Tidbits
LIVING UP TO THE HYPE: Prior to the season, the Yellow Jackets voted and 50 percent of the squad said that Stephanie Higgs would be the player that would surprise people this season…she’s lived up to that hype through 13 games, leading the team in scoring (13.8 ppg) while standing second in assists (28) and steals (24.) She is also averaging 4.6 rebounds per contest.
INTO THE FIRE: Freshmen Jill Ingram and Chioma Nnamaka were thrown into the starting lineup prior to the season opener and have performed well, as they are second and third, respectively, in scoring. Nnamaka has started every game for the Jackets this season while Ingram has been in the starting lineup in all but one contest.
STAY AWAY FROM THE BLOCK: Kasha Terry has picked up where she left off a year ago, averaging 2.5 blocks per game this season after blocking 2.5 per contest a year ago. She has logged at least one block in all but one game this season and had a streak of 13 consecutive games with a blocked shot snapped against Florida State on Jan. 6th. This season, she has recorded eight games with two or more blocks.
LOVING THE MISS: Jessica Williams is again one of the top rebounders in the league, as she is averaging 7.3 per game while scoring 5.3 points per contest.
LOOKING AT THE BENCH: Just because the starters are out doesn’t mean Tech’s opponents can relax…through the first 13 games of the season, the Jackets’ bench is averaging 21.5 points per game (279 total), while the starters are averaging 40.6 points (528 total).
SUB, PLEASE!: After finishing the 2003-04 season with just five active players averaging more than 15 minutes per game, the Jackets currently have seven players playing more than 15 minutes per contest, with six of those averaging more than 20 minutes per game.
THE JACKETS ON “D”: Through the first 13 games of the season, Georgia Tech has forced 234 turnovers by its opponents, which have led to 122 Yellow Jackets steals (9.4 per game). In comparison, the Jackets have turned the ball over 23 fewer times, leading to just 81 opponent steals in 13 games (6.2 per game).
MAKING THE MOST OF “FREE” POINTS: Since dropping the pair of games at Tulsa and St. John’s in which the Yellow Jackets shot just 50 percent from the free-throw line (15-of-30), Georgia Tech had been much stronger from the charity stripe. In the five games following that road trip, the Jackets went 5-0 and connected on 80 percent of their free throws (64-of-80), including a season-high 90 percent mark against Alcorn State in the championship game of the GT/Atlanta Marriott NW Holiday Invitational. Overall, in their three losses this season, the Jackets have made just 23 free throws in 53 overall attempts, converting just 43.4 percent from the line.
Jackets vs. the Terrapins
• The Jackets and Terps have met 50 times in history, with Maryland holding a 35-15 lead in the series. Georgia Tech is, however, at its best against Maryland in the friendly confines of Alexander Memorial Coliseum, posting 11 of its 15 victories against the Terps in Atlanta.
• The Yellow Jackets and Terrapins split the series a year ago, with each team winning on its home court. Georgia Tech fell to the Terrapins, 87-91, in College Park in the first game between the two teams last season, but came back with a 58-57 victory against the Terps at home in mid-February to improve to 11-12 as the host in the series.
• Georgia Tech has won two of the last three games in the series, and the Terrapins and Jackets have split every series since the 2000-01 season. The 1999-00 season was the last time that one of the two teams swept the season’s two contests, with the Jackets winning both games.
• Georgia Tech’s first game ever played against the Terrapins came on Nov. 27, 1979, when Maryland defeated the Jackets, 94-78. It was the first of 10-straight victories over the Jackets for the Terrapins.
• LAST TIME OUT: Fallon Stokes scored a game-high 18 points while Megan Harpring added 12 to help the Jackets hold off the late Terrapin run to win 58-57 in Atlanta. Tech led by eight at halftime, but watched that lead dwindle as the Terps outscored Tech 34-27 in the second frame. Maryland outrebounded the Yellow Jackets, 46-39 and held Tech to just 25 percent shooting from the field, but shot just 39.3 percent as a team. Tech and Maryland each had four players to score in double figures in front of 2,781 fans in attendance.
The Jackets vs. Ranked Opponents
• The Yellow Jackets have met just one ranked opponent this season, defeating the sixth-ranked Georgia Bulldogs by a score of 55-49. That win marked the highest-ranked opponent that the Yellow Jackets have defeated since the 1991-92 season, when Tech defeated No. 4 Maryland, 68-67 in its first win in an ACC Tournament game in history. It was also the first win for the Jackets against a team ranked in the top-10 since the 1998-99 season, when Tech downed No. 7/6 North Carolina, 91-84.
• Georgia Tech’s last win against a ranked ACC opponent came during the 2000-01 season, when the Jackets downed 17th-ranked North Carolina, 81-62 in Chapel Hill. Tech is 0-11 against ranked ACC opponents since then and just 2-13 overall against ranked opponents since that game.
• The last time that the Yellow Jackets won more than one game against ranked opponents in the same season came in 2000-01, when the Jackets went 2-8 against teams in the top-25. That year, the Yellow Jackets defeated Virginia twice when they were ranked.
• The Yellow Jackets are 24-169 all-time against ranked opponents, including a 55-49 win over No. 6 Georgia this season. Georgia Tech is 1-5 all-time against teams ranked in the top-25 under current head coach MaChelle Joseph.
Last Time Out
The Yellow Jackets could not overcome a late 20-3 run by the Cavaliers, who handed Georgia Tech their first conference loss of the season, 61-38, Monday night at Alexander Memorial Coliseum. LaTonya Blue scored 22 points for Virginia while pulling down nine rebounds and dishing out eight assists in the game, while Tech was led offensively by a pair of sophomores in Stephanie Higgs and Kentrina Wilson, with 12 and nine points, respectively. Wilson pulled down a career-high 10 rebounds in the contest while Jessica Williams set a new season-high with 13 total rebounds, including 10 on the offensive end of the court. The Cavs capitalized on 20 Tech turnovers, scoring 22 points on the Jackets’ miscues and received 18 points from their bench in the contest.
Home Sweet Home
After dropping a pair of road games in early December, the Yellow Jackets looked forward to their return to Atlanta, where the they have posted an overall record of 198-153 since the 1979-80 season. The Jackets are 9-1 at home this season after dropping their first contest at AMC this past week against Virginia. Conversely, Georgia Tech is 92-192 on the road since 1979-80, and 1-2 this year.
Following the contest against the Terrapins, Georgia Tech will travel to Duke this weekend and face the Blue Devils at 7 p.m. Monday evening. The game will be broadcast on WREK-Radio, 91.1 FM in Atlanta, and online at www.wrek.org. Livestats for the contest will be available at www.ramblinwreck.com.
