Jan. 29, 2002
ATLANTA – The Georgia Tech women’s basketball team overcame a slow start and was sparked by a career-high 27 points from senior forward Regina Tate to claim a 79-52 victory over non-conference foe Charleston Southern on Tuesday night at Alexander Memorial Coliseum.
In the first half, the Yellow Jackets (13-6) traded baskets with the Buccaneers (9-9) early on, with junior center Sonja Mallory scoring the team’s first nine points to give Tech a 9-6 lead with 12:01 remaining in the half. The Jackets’ individual runs continued as the half went on, with Tate netting eight points over the next 6:52 to give Tech a 24-13 advantage with 5:09 to play before the break.
Tech then turned up the defensive pressure and began to get into a rhythm as it closed the first period with a 21-7 run to claim a 30-13 lead at the intermission. In the closing span of the half, the Jackets forced the Bucs into six turnovers, which resulted in six points, including a fast break layup by Nefertiti Walker as time expired that followed a Megan Isom steal for Tech.
Tate led all scorers in the first half as she finished with 10 points on a 5-for-9 shooting performance in the period. Mallory followed Tate with her nine points, as the Yellow Jackets allowed CSU the fewest points in a half this season by a Tech opponent.
In the second half, Tech pulled away over after the 16-minute media timeout, as the Buccaneers got as close as 14 points at 38-24 with 16:21 remaining on the strength of five points from Marea Daniels. Tate once again got the Yellow Jackets back on track, as she scored 10 of Tech’s next 17 points to lead the Jackets to a 55-31 lead with 8:33 left in the contest.
The Yellow Jackets held Charleston Southern at bay down the stretch, as Tech emptied the bench with nearly four minutes to play and finished the game with a 15-5 lead in bench scoring. Walker also got into the act down the stretch, as she netted nine of her career-best-tying 11 points in the final 4:25, including a pair of three-pointers.
Tate led all scorers with her 27 points, as she coupled those with seven rebounds. Mallory was the second Tech player to reach double figures in scoring, as she netted 17 points to go along with three blocked shots. Walker was the third double-digit performer in the game for the Jackets, finishing the game with 11 points and a career-high eight assists.
Tech matched its season-best three-point performance with six treys on nine attempts in the contest, while also shooting 47.0 percent from the field in the game, including an 18-for-33 (.545) effort in the second half.
Charleston Southern was led in the contest by Cesurian Champagne with 13 points and eight rebounds, she was joined in double-figure scoring by Amanda Ekberg, who finished with 12 points. The Buccaneers were limited to just 32.3 percent shooting in the game, including a 6-for-31 (.194) performance in the first half.
The Jackets will not have too much time off before returning to action, as they will be back in conference action on Thursday night with a showdown against fifth-ranked Duke in Durham, N.C., beginning at 7 p.m. The game will be a match-up between the top two teams in the Atlantic Coast Conference standings.
