Jan. 7, 2016
Box Score (PDF)
RALEIGH – Senior Aaliyah Whiteside scored a career-high 31 points but the Georgia Tech women’s basketball team (10-6, 0-3) suffered a 65-57 loss against NC State (11-5, 2-1) at Broughton High School on Thursday night.
“I thought that it was a battle for 40 minutes,” head coach MaChelle Joseph said. “I thought Aaliyah Whiteside carried us. We are going to need some help on the offensive end to win games in this league. We did a better job rebounding the basketball but we gave up 18 free throws and that’s tough to overcome on the road.”
How it Happened
Whiteside scored her first two points of the night with a game-opening lay but NC State responded by scoring five-straight points to give them their first lead of the game 2:20 into the contest. The Yellow Jackets answered with 12 unanswered points to take a 14-5 lead with 4:38 left in the quarter. Georgia Tech held the Wolfpack scoreless for 4:29 and took a 17-13 advantage into the first break.
Tech fell behind to the Wolfpack 20-17 one and half minutes into the second quarter, but the Jackets fought back to regain the lead 25-24 and hold on to the lead heading into halftime, 28-26. Whiteside hit double-digits before the half for the 10th time this season, scoring a team-high 13 points in the first 20 minutes of play.
The third frame was a close one with the Jackets and Wolfpack trading leads back and forth 10 times. NC State outscored the Jackets, 7-0, at the close of the quarter to go ahead, 47-42.
Tech worked hard in the beginning of the fourth quarter, erasing its deficit to knot the score at 49-49. The Yellow Jackets went up 52-51 after Whiteside completed a three point play with 6:58 remaining. It would be Tech’s last lead of the night for the Wolfpack countered with a 6-0 run to extend their lead, 58-52. Whiteside stayed determined and completed yet another three point play to put the Jackets back within three, 58-55, but NC State shot 7-for-10 from the free throw line in the final 1:29 of the game to win, 65-57.
Whiteside Records a Career First
Senior Aaliyah Whiteside tallied a career-high 31 points, shooting 11-for-20 from the floor and making seven of eight free throw attempts. She is only the third player in the ACC to score at least 30 points in a game this season. The last game a Yellow Jacket scored at least 30 points was against Virginia on Jan. 25, 2015.
Double Figure Scoring Streak
Senior Aaliyah Whiteside has scored in double figures in 22 out of the past 23 games, dating back to last season. This season, she has hit the double digit mark before half time in 10 out of 16 games including tonight against NC State. She scored 13 of her 31 points in the first half, helping Tech to a 28-26 lead at halftime.
It was Whiteside’s 12th game this season scoring at least 21 points and her 19th time in her career. Her 12 20+ point games are a league-high and she leads the ACC in scoring with her 20.8 points per game average.
Going Hard in the Paint
The Yellow Jackets outrebounded NC State, 43-32, and grabbed an impressive 23 offensive rebounds. It was the ninth time the Yellow Jackets outrebounded an opponent this season. The Jackets also outscored NC State 26-20 in the paint and scored 24 second chance points. Whiteside grabbed a team-high nine rebounds while senior Roddreka Rogers and junior Katarina Vuckovic each pulled down eight rebounds apiece.
Tech Tidbits
- This was the 67th all-time meeting between Georgia Tech and NC State. NC State leads the series 44-23.
- Whiteside scored at least 21 points for the 12th time this season and 19th time in her career. She leads the ACC in scoring with her 20.8 points per game scoring average.
- Whiteside has now scored in double-figures in 22 out of the past 23 games, dating back to last season.
- With her 31 points against NC State, Whiteside moved up three spots on Georgia Tech’s all-time scoring list with 1,269 career points to 15th. She is 34 points from surpassing LeAnn Woodhull’s 1,302 career points for 14th.
- Rogers’ has 825 career rebounds which puts her in sixth on Tech’s all-time career rebounding list. She is now 12 rebounds away from tying Alex Montgomery (837) for fifth.
- Roddreka Rogers faced off against her younger sister DD who is a freshman on NC State’s women’s basketball team.
Next Up
The Yellow Jackets stay on the road, traveling to Florida State on Sunday at 4 p.m. The game at Florida State will be on RSN.
–TogetherWeSwarm–
