February 4, 2016

Upperclassmen Lead @GTWBB to Win at VT

Feb. 4, 2016

THE FLATS – The Georgia Tech women’s basketball’s three upperclassmen lead the Yellow Jackets (14-9, 4-6) to a 51-34 victory at Virginia Tech (14-8, 2-7) on Thursday evening at Cassell Coliseum.

“As you see, it was a really hard fought win,” head coach MaChelle Joseph said. “The first half, I thought Virginia Tech did a great job defensively. They are one of the top defensive teams in the ACC and in the first half they really showed why. Aaliyah Whiteside, who is a phenomenal scorer, had a hard time getting shots off. The shots she made were tough, contested shots.

I thought Katarina Vuckovic really stepped up and made key plays for us. I thought Roddreka Rogers had a really tough first half but came out in the second half and played the way she was capable of.”

How it Happened
The Jackets held the Hokies to zero field goals until the 5:06 mark in the first period while building a 7-4 lead. Georgia Tech forced six turnovers in the first period, finishing out the first 10 minutes of play with a 10-7 lead.

Georgia Tech stayed on top on the scoreboard until 7:16 into the second period when the Hokies took their first and only lead of the game, 17-16. The Yellow Jackets responded by scoring four-straight points to ahead 20-17, but the Hokies would hit a 3-pointer to knot the score at 20-20 heading into halftime.

The Yellow Jackets wasted no time coming out of the locker room, going on an 11-2 run in the first four minutes of the second half. Junior Katarina Vuckovic sank two 3-pointers in the run that gave Georgia Tech its first double-digit lead of the game, 31-22. The Yellow Jackets outscored the Hokies, 16-6, in the third period to go ahead 36-26 going into the final 10 minutes of play. Senior Roddreka Rogers scored eight of Tech’s points in the third period.

Georgia Tech took its largest lead of the night, 51-32, with 2:51 left in the game. The Jackets held Virginia Tech to just 14 points in the second half and eight points in the fourth quarter.

Upperclassmen Lead the Way
Georgia Tech’s three upperclassmen, seniors Aaliyah Whiteside and Roddreka Rogers and junior Katarina Vuckovic, combined to score 36 of the Jackets’ 51 points. Vuckovic led the Jackets in scoring for the second-straight game with 15 points. It was her 10^th double-digit game of the season, her second-straight and her third out of the past four games scoring at least 10 points. It was her third game this season making at least three 3-pointers.

Whiteside kept her double-figure scoring streak alive, tallying 13 points. She has scored in double digits in 29 of the past 30 games and every game this season besides one. Rogers was close to a double-double against the Hokies, scoring eight points and grabbing a team-high nine rebounds. It was her ninth time this season leading the Jackets on the boards.

(Georgia) Tech Tough Defense
Virginia Tech has one of the top defenses in the nation but the Yellow Jackets matched their intensity on the defense end tonight. The Yellow Jackets forced 18 turnovers and recorded nine steals. Georgia Tech scored 21 points of off the Hokies’ turnovers. The Yellow Jackets held Virginia Tech to 34 points, their lowest point total this season and held the Hokies to 25.5 percent (13-51) from the floor.

Moving Through The Record Book

With her 13 points against Virginia Tech, Whiteside moved closer to breaking in to the top 10 of Georgia Tech’s all-time scoring list. She has 1,413 career points which puts her in 11th. Whiteside is 10 points from surpassing Kate Brandt’s 1,422 career points for 10^th.
Whiteside became the all-time leader in career free throws last game against Boston College. Tonight she went 3-for-3 from the foul line and has 436 career made free throws.
Senior Roddreka Rogers has sole ownership of fourth on Tech’s all-time rebounding list with 865 career rebounds. She needs six more rebounds to tie Kisha Ford for third.

Tech Tidbits

This was the 14^th all-time meeting between Georgia Tech and Virginia Tech. Georgia Tech leads the all-time series 9-5 and now holds a 5-2 lead in games played in Blacksburg. The Yellow Jackets have won three-straight meetings and nine of the past 10.

This was the first time the Yellow Jackets were tied at the half this season. The Jackets and Hokies were tied at 20-20 at halftime.
Georgia Tech’s 20 points in the first half tie for the least amount of points scored in a half this season. Tech also only scored 20 points in the first half against Notre Dame on Jan. 28.