Dec. 29, 2014
THE FLATS – The Georgia Tech women’s basketball team (9-4) rolled to its fourth-straight victory, defeating Lipscomb (4-8), 71-53, at McCamish Pavilion Monday afternoon in the first round of the Georgia Tech Holiday Tournament.
“I thought that Kaela did a great job stepping up and making shots for her team in the second half,” head coach MaChelle Joseph said. “I thought that Imani Tilford, who hasn’t played much all year, did a great job for us. She came in and ran her team. She was a great defender and disruptive the whole 30 minutes that she played. It’s a credit to her that she was ready when her opportunity came.”
The Jackets will face LA Tech tomorrow at 4 p.m. in the championship game. LA Tech defeated Harvard, 83-64, in the first game of the tournament. Lipscomb and Harvard play at 2 p.m. in the consolation game.
With the victory, Georgia Tech is now 6-1 at home this season. Joseph is just two wins away from becoming the winningest coach in Georgia Tech history with a career record of 222-138. During the win, Tech made 11 3-pointers, marking the seventh time this season Tech has made at least nine 3-pointers in a single game. Four different Jackets made at least one shot from the 3-point line, with sophomore Kaela Davis leading the way with six.
Senior Sydney Wallace became the 27th Yellow Jacket to score 1,000 career points after scoring 10 points against Lipscomb. Wallace entered today’s contest needing just nine points to hit the 1,000 mark in her career. She made all of her 10 points in the first half before leaving the game at halftime due to injury.
Davis led the Jackets on offense for the ninth time this season with 28 points. Her six 3-pointers mark the fifth time this season that she has made at least four shots from behind the arc in a game. It was her 25th straight game scoring in double figures and the seventh time this season she hit the 20 point mark. Davis scored 21 of her 28 points in the second half alone.
Three Yellow Jackets scored 10 points against the Lady Bisons – Wallace, sophomore Katarina Vuckovic and junior Roddreka Rogers. Junior Aaliyah Whiteside recorded a career-high in rebounds, leading the Jackets with 11 boards, while freshman Imani Tilford led Tech in both assists, six, and steals, three.
The Yellow Jackets opened up the game with five-straight points from Davis on the way to a 7-3 lead. Lipscomb came alive from behind the 3-point line, sinking four-straight shots to take the lead but Tech answered with three baskets from behind the arc to go back ahead 16-12 at 14:16. Two of those 3-pointers came from Vuckovic.
Tech’s defense held the Lady Bisons scoreless for 5:15 while building a 24-14 lead and forcing four turnovers. Lipscomb would cut its deficit to just three points, 31-28, at 4:17 after outscoring Tech, 9-1.
Tech answered the Lady Bisons’ run with two straight 3-pointers from Wallace and Whiteside. Wallace sank a jump shot with five seconds left on the clock to give her 1,000 career points and put the Jackets ahead, 39-28, heading into halftime. The senior suffered a bad fall after the basket and missed the remainder of the game.
The Jackets came out of halftime on a roll, starting off shooting 8-for-9 from the floor. Tech outscored the Lady Bisons, 22-4, with Davis accounting for 18 of the 22 points. All 18 of Davis’ points were scored consecutively and included four 3-pointers that put Tech up 61-35 at 14:11. Tech would maintain its lead for the rest of the game to win, 71-53, securing its spot in the championship game.
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–TogetherWeSwarm–
