THE FLATS – Less than two minutes into Thursday’s Atlantic Coast Conference game versus Syracuse, No. 13 Georgia Tech faced its largest deficit of the season, trailing the Orange, 10-1. However, Syracuse’s upset bid was short-lived, as unbeaten Tech scored 43 of the game’s next 64 points and cruised to its 15th win of the season, an 85-68 triumph over the visiting Orange at McCamish Pavilion.
Despite Syracuse’s early burst, Georgia Tech pulled even by the end of the first quarter (16-16), led by 13 points at halftime (44-31) and stretched the advantage to as many as 28 points in the second half. The Yellow Jackets never trailed after knotting the score at the end of the first quarter and their lead never dipped to less than double-figures over the final 23 minutes of the game.
The Jackets’ defense sparked their 13th double-digit win of the season. Tech limited Syracuse to just 34.8% shooting for the game, including 29.7% in the second half. Additionally, 13 Tech steals helped lead to 19 Syracuse turnovers, and the Jackets scored 27 points off those takeaways.
Highlighted by making 6-of-8 3-pointers, Georgia Tech’s Dani Carnegie poured in a career-high 28 points to lead all scorers. It marked the third-straight game, fourth time in the last five contests and fifth time this season that Carnegie has scored 20 or more.
Zoe Smith (16 points), Tonie Morgan (15) and Kara Dunn (14) rounded out the four Yellow Jackets in double-figures.
Smith, a graduate transfer from Georgia, pulled down 12 rebounds – her most as a Yellow Jacket – for her second double-double of the season while Morgan dished out a game-high six assists. Morgan, a junior, also pulled within nine points of 1,000 for her career with her 15-point night.
At 15-0 overall (3-0 ACC), Georgia Tech’s start is the best by an ACC team since 2017-18, when Louisville won its first 20 games of the season.
The Yellow Jackets will put their unbeaten record on the line again next Thursday (Jan. 9) when it hosts Virginia Tech at 7 p.m. at McCamish Pavilion.
Tonie Morgan meets with media postgame
Nell Fortner postgame press conference
PURCHASE TICKETS FOR WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
Single-game tickets for the season remain on sale. Single game tickets begin at just $10 for general admission seating and are $12 for reserved seating. Youth pricing begins at $8 per game and are available day of game, while group ticket packages are on sale for 10 or more tickets at $5 per ticket. Please contact the Georgia Tech Athletic Association ticket office for more information on group tickets at tickets@athletics.gatech.edu. Fans can purchase tickets by visiting RamblinWreck.com or by calling the Georgia Tech ticket office at 1-888-TECH-TIX.
GEORGIA TECH WOMEN’S BASKETBALL CELEBRATES 50 YEARS
Georgia Tech is celebrating the 50th anniversary of women’s basketball on The Flats this season. Under the direction of coach Jim Culpepper, Georgia Tech competed its first year in the Georgia Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (GAIAW) in 1974-75 before joining the ACC in 1979-80. Tech has seen many highlights over 50 years, including playing in the NCAA Tournament 11 times, with two Sweet 16 appearances (2012, 2021), and producing nine WNBA draft picks, featuring first round draft picks Alex Montgomery and Sasha Goodlett. In its first postseason berth in school history, Georgia Tech captured the 1992 National Women’s Invitational Tournament. Currently in its sixth season under head coach Nell Fortner, the Yellow Jackets have reach postseason play three times in the last five years.
Full Steam Ahead
Full Steam Ahead is a $500 million fundraising initiative to achieve Georgia Tech athletics’ goal of competing for championships at the highest level in the next era of intercollegiate athletics. The initiative will fund transformative projects for Tech athletics, including renovations of Bobby Dodd Stadium at Hyundai Field (the historic home of Georgia Tech football), the Zelnak Basketball Center (the practice and training facility for Tech basketball) and O’Keefe Gymnasium (the venerable home of Yellow Jackets volleyball), as well as additional projects and initiatives to further advance Georgia Tech athletics through program wide-operational support. All members of the Georgia Tech community are invited to visit atfund.org/FullSteamAhead for full details and renderings of the renovation projects, as well as to learn about opportunities to contribute online.
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