Jan. 16, 2014
Final Stats | GT Photo Gallery
THE FLATS – The Georgia Tech women’s basketball team (12-5, 2-2 ACC) utilized a tough defensive presence to defeat Wake Forest (9-8, 0-4 ACC), 79-63, at McCamish Pavilion this evening.
This was the Yellow Jackets’ eighth victory out of the last nine games against Wake Forest. Head coach MaChelle Joseph holds a 12-5 record against the Demon Deacons in her career.
“I thought we came out pretty aggressive on the defensive end,” Joseph said. “I was really impressed with the play of our bench tonight. I thought they did a great job. I thought Kaela Davis led the way for us offensively.”
Davis recorded her seventh game this season scoring at least 20 points as she led the Yellow Jackets on the offensive end, scoring 23 points. She also had two steals and two assists. Senior Tyaunna Marshall scored 14 against the Demon Deacons, bumping her career total up to 1,807. Marshall is in second place on Tech’s all-time scoring list and just 149 points away from breaking Kisha Ford’s all-time scoring record of 1,955.
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Junior Sydney Wallace scored 11 in the victory while recording three assists and three steals. Freshman Katarina Vuckovic came off the bench to score 10 points and grab four rebounds.
The Jackets’ extended its rebounding streak to 14 games where they have won the rebounding battle. Georgia Tech edged the Demon Deacons by one rebound, 38-37, in tonight’s game.
Sophomore Roddreka Rogers led the rebounding effort for the sixth time this season, grabbing 11 boards. It was her fifth time this season with double figure rebounds. Rogers also contributed five points.
Georgia Tech forced Wake Forest to turn the ball over 29 times. The Jackets outscored the Demon Deacons, 32-8, off of turnovers and grabbed 17 steals. Ten different Jackets each recorded one steal, while Wallace led the way with three.
“We got better from our loss at Syracuse and now we have to learn from this game,” Joseph said. “We have to grow and get better.”
The Yellow Jackets came out strong on defense, forcing turnovers on all of the Demon Deacons’ first four possessions to jump to a 5-0 lead. Davis had four of the Jackets first five points. Overall, Georgia Tech outscored Wake Forest, 9-3, in the opening 4:43.
The Demon Deacons put together a 7-0 run at the 13:45 to take the lead for the first time in the game, 10-9. Dawnn Maye answered their run with a 3-pointer to quickly put the Jackets back on top. Maye’s shot from behind the arc sparked a 9-3 run for Tech and put them ahead, 18-13.
Six unanswered points from the Demon Deacons tied the game up, 21-21, but three straight steals from the Jacket defense quickly put Tech up by seven, 28-21, with 4:21 left in the half. The Jackets stretched its run to 14-0 over 3:53 to take a 35-21 lead. Davis added five points during the run.
At the half, the Jackets led by 16, 42-26. Both Davis and Marshall hit double-figures in the first 20 minutes of play, with Davis scoring 13 points and Marshall recording 11.
Davis provided an offensive spark coming out of halftime, scoring six-straight points. Wallace drained back-to-back 3-point shots to complete a 9-2 run that put the Jackets up, 51-26, 2:29 into the second frame of play.
The Jackets would extend their lead to as much as 28 in the second half. Freshman Donnaizha Fountain pulled down an offensive rebound that she laid right back in with 8:09 left in the game to give Tech its largest lead of the contest, 68-40.
Georgia Tech maintained its lead for the remainder of the game, never letting Wake Forest to come within 14 points of its advantage, to win its second ACC game of the season.
For an inside look at the program, follow Georgia Tech women’s basketball on Twitter, @GTWBB, Instagram, GTWBB, and like the Yellow Jackets on Facebook, GTWomensBasketball.
Next up, the Jackets head to #6/6 Maryland on Sunday. The two teams face off at 2 p.m. at the Comcast Center.
–RamblinWreck.com–
