Jan. 9, 2002
ATLANTA – The Georgia Tech women’s basketball team will look for its second Atlantic Coast Conference win of the year when it hosts Virginia in a conference match-up that will tip-off at 7 p.m. at Alexander Memorial Coliseum and be televised on Fox Sports Net South.
The Yellow Jackets (7-6, 1-3 ACC) have won the last two meetings with the Cavaliers (8-6, 1-2 ACC), with both victories coming a year ago as Tech swept the season series between the two schools. Included in those two wins, was an 87-70 decision in Charlottesville, which marked the first-ever win for the Jackets at Virginia.
Tech turned in a break-even weekend on its trip down Tobacco Road, as it defeated Wake Forest (65-56) on Friday, before falling to NC State on Sunday afternoon. The loss to the Wolfpack ended the Jackets’ unbeaten road record on the year, but the best start to a season in road games (4-1) in school history was preserved despite the loss.
For the Jackets, senior guard Milli Martinez has found her stride of late, as she has scored in double figures in each of Tech’s last four games. The Imlay City, Mich., native turned in a career outing against Wake Forest, as she poured in 25 points and grabbed a team-high nine rebounds to lead the Jackets to the win. In her last four games, Martinez is averaging 16.3 points and ranks among the ACC’s scoring leaders with 11.9 points per game.
Martinez’ back court mate Nina Barlin also continued her stellar junior season last week, as she recorded her school-record fifth double-digit assist outing of the season with 10 helpers against the Wolfpack. Barlin leads the ACC with 102 assists and an average of 7.85 per game. Her per-game average ranks second in the nation and her 14 assists against Arkansas State is tied for the third-most in a game this year nationwide.
Much like Georgia Tech, Virginia will be looking for its second win in the ACC and to bounce back from a home loss to Clemson on Monday night. The Cavaliers are a young team that returns only five letterwinners from a year ago, but is getting a great deal of leadership from senior guard Telisha Quarles. Quarles leads UVa with 16.6 points per game and 27 steals on the year. She is joined in double figures by freshman Brandi Teamer, who is hitting for 14.1 points per game and leads Virginia with 8.8 rebounds per contest.
Thursday’s game will be shown on Fox Sports Net South and can be heard on 91.1 WREK-FM as well as at www.ramblinwreck.com.
