Tech Women's Hoops Announces 2004-05 Schedule

Aug. 12, 2004 ATLANTA – Georgia Tech’s 2004-05 women’s basketball team will play nine games against seven different teams that reached the 2004 NCAA Tournament, including home match-ups against perennial Top-25 powers Old Dominion and Georgia, as announced by Georgia Tech head coach MaChelle Joseph on Thursday.

“With a schedule like we have this season, we will find out early what our potential is, along with what our strengths and weaknesses are,” said Joseph. “This is probably the most challenging schedule that I have seen since I’ve been at Georgia Tech, and we did that because of the talent in the newly-expanded Atlantic Coast Conference. Old Dominion, being the second game of the season, will be a challenge for our players. They are a traditional national power in women’s basketball and we are excited about the opportunity of having them on our home floor. We also go back to a home-and-home format against Georgia this season and the fact that we get to play them here, on our home court, is another great opportunity for this young team.”

The Yellow Jackets play a minimum of four games that will be televised on regional television, including the Russell Athletic Shootout contest against SEC opponent Arkansas on Feb. 13.

“We are looking forward to playing Arkansas because anytime that you play against an SCE team, you know that you are playing against one of the top teams in the nation. The Razorbacks only lost one starter from a year ago, and I know that it will be a great game for people to see. Anytime that teams from the ACC and SEC meet, you are always going to see a quality match-up and a great game, so we are very excited about that.”

The Yellow Jackets will also host the annual Holiday Tournament Dec. 30-31, and open with Mississippi Valley State in the first round. They will then face either South Carolina State or Alcorn State on day two.

With the expansion of the ACC over the summer, Georgia Tech will play 14 league games in 2005, including home-and-home contests with Florida State, Clemson, Duke and Maryland. The Yellow Jackets will travel to Miami, Wake Forest and Virginia Tech and play host to Virginia, North Carolina and NC State.

“I really think that we are going to see a more competitive league with the addition of Virginia Tech and Miami,” said Joseph. “We have just added two more 2004 NCAA Tournament teams to the six ACC teams that earned postseason bids in 2004, so we are certainly looking at a more competitive conference all the way around. I think that it is going to be a very interesting race to the end just because, similar to last season, there is a lot of parity in the ACC.”

The Yellow Jackets plan to add one more non-conference game at a later date.

The Yellow Jackets return nine letterwinners from the 2003-04 team, including starting juniors Kasha Terry, Jessica Williams and Megan Harpring. Georgia Tech welcomes back the services of redshirt sophomore April Johnson and sophomore Kentrina Wilson, both of which suffered season-ending knee injuries during the conference portion of the schedule a year ago, and boasts six newcomers to the team in Giuliett Ancora, Jillian Ingram, Daphne Mitchell, Janie Mitchell, Shantrell Moss and Chioma Nnamaka.

The 2004-05 Georgia Tech Women’s Basketball Schedule: