Jan. 3, 2016
Box Score (PDF)
THE FLATS – The Georgia Tech women’s basketball team (10-5, 0-2) fell short against Louisville (10-5, 2-0, 78-65, in its ACC home opener on Sunday afternoon at McCamish Pavilion.
“It was a tale of two halves,” head coach MaChelle Joseph said. “I was really disappointed in the second half. Getting out rebounded and going 5-for-20 from the 3-point line hurt us. You can’t foul a team 25 times and win a game in this league. One of the things we need to work on is our rebounding and our defense. We cannot foul a team 25 times.”
How it Happened
The Yellow Jackets came out hot in the first period, jumping ahead 7-2 in the first 3:27 minutes of their first ACC home game of the year. The Cardinals would catch up to Tech’s lead and outscore the Jackets 7-2 in the final three and half minutes of the period to take a one point lead at the first break, 18-17. The Yellow Jackets defense forced seven turnovers in the first period alone.
Down four with 1:53 left in the second period, the Yellow Jackets outscored the Cardinals 7-0 to take a 33-30 advantage into the half. Senior Aaliyah Whiteside scored five of those points, including a three point play with seven seconds left to break the 30-30 tie and put the Yellow Jackets ahead heading into halftime. She had 16 points in the first half.
The Cardinals pulled ahead by seven, 44-37, after outscoring the Jackets 14-4 coming out of the break. A Katarina Vuckovic 3-pointer would cut Tech’s deficit to just four points with 5:04 left in the period but the Cardinals went ahead 53-48 at the end of the third frame.
The Yellow Jackets mounted a comeback in the fourth period, using six-straight free throws to knot the score at 56-56 with 7:04 on the clock. Louisville answered with a 12-2 run to stretch their lead to double-digits, 68-58. A 3-point basket from sophomore Antonia Peresson, her second of the game, put the Jackets back within six points of Louisville, 71-65, but the Cardinals shot 7-for-8 from the charity stripe in the final 41 seconds to defeat the Jackets, 78-65.
Whiteside Sticks to the Script
Senior Aaliyah Whiteside, the ACC’s leading scorer with 20.1 points per game, scored at least 21 points for the 11th time this season. Whiteside has led the Yellow Jackets on offense 10 times this season and has scored in double figures in 14 out of this season’s 15 games. Against Louisville, Whiteside grabbed five rebounds and shot 11-for-12 from the free throw line. This is the fourth time this season she has made at least 10 free throws in a game.
Whiteside has 383 career made free throws which is the second most in Georgia Tech women’s basketball history. She is 48 made free throws away from surpassing Joyce Pierce’s all-time record of 430 made free throws.
Inside the Box Score
While senior Whiteside led the Yellow Jackets in scoring with 24 points, sophomore Roddreka Rogers grabbed 10 rebounds and scored nine points. It was the sixth time this season that Rogers had led the team in rebounding and her sixth game this season grabbing double-figure boards. Sophomore Imani Tilford handed out a team-high four assists and recorded two steals while scoring nine points against Louisville.
Tech Tidbits
- This was the second meeting against Louisville and the first in Atlanta. The series is now 2-0 in favor of Louisville
- This was the first loss of the season at home for Georgia Tech. The Yellow Jackets went undefeated at home during the nonconference season at 8-0.
- Whiteside scored at least 21 points for the 11th time this season and 18th time in her career. She leads the ACC in scoring with her 20.1 scoring average.
- Whiteside has now scored in double-figures in 21 out of the past 22 games, dating back to last season.
- With her 24 points against Louisville, Whiteside moved up two spots on Georgia Tech’s all-time scoring list with 1,238 career points to 18th. She surpassed Marielle Walker’s 1,230 career points and Ida Neal’s 1,235 points. Whiteside is nine points away from moving into 17th.
- Rogers now has 817 career rebounds which puts her in sixth on Tech’s all-time career rebounding list. She is now 20 rebounds away from tying Alex Montgomery for fifth.
Next Up
The Yellow Jackets hit the road for two-straight games, traveling to NC State on Thursday at 7 p.m. and to Florida State on Sunday at 4 p.m. The game at Florida State will be on RSN.
