Jan. 16, 2002
ATLANTA — The Georgia Tech women’s basketball team will look for its third-straight Atlantic Coast Conference win on Thursday when it takes to the road to face the 17th-ranked North Carolina Tar Heels in a game that will tip off at 7 p.m. at Carmichael Auditorium in Chapel Hill, N.C.
The Yellow Jackets (9-6, 3-3 ACC) are fresh off of a 61-58 win over Maryland on Monday night and have won three of their last four games, including wins over Wake Forest (65-56) and Virginia (92-61) prior to downing the Terrapins. The Tar Heels (14-3, 4-1 ACC) have won five of their last six games, including an 89-85 win over Clemson on Sunday.
Tech’s resurgent play over the past week has come from an improved team defensive effort along with solid post play from both senior Regina Tate and junior Sonja Mallory.
With the win over the Terps, the Jackets improved their record to 7-1 this year when holding opponents to fewer than 60 points and 3-1 in contests decided by five points or less.
Tate was the catalyst against Virginia, scoring a game-high 23 points, for her first double-figure scoring game since Tech’s win at Georgia State. She followed that with another solid outing against Maryland, netting 16 points and grabbing eight rebounds. Tate leads the Jackets with 14.1 points per game.
Mallory led Tech in scoring for the 11th time this year as she poured in 18 points against Maryland, while pulling down 11 rebounds and blocking three shots. The 18 points and 11 rebounds marked the third double-double of the year for Mallory, tying her for the team lead with Nina B?rlin.
The Jackets continue to lead the ACC in a pair of rebounding categories, including rebound margin (+9.2) and rebounding defense (32.1), while also rating as the second-best team in scoring defense (61.5 ppg). The rebound margin number is the ninth-best in the country in the latest NCAA statistics.
Thursday’s game will be the 48th meeting between Georgia Tech and North Carolina, with the Tar Heels holding a 37-10 lead on the all-time ledger. The Yellow Jackets will be looking for their second-straight in in Chapel Hill, after claiming an 82-75 win a year ago.
