ATLANTA (May 10) — The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets opened their Australian basketball tour Wednesday with a 102-81 loss to the Kilsyth Lady Cobras in Melbourne, Australia.
Chelsea Laing scored a game-high 25 points, including eight in the fourth quarter, and Tania Heritage scored 12 of her 21 points in the final 12-minute period to lead the Cobras to victory.
Georgia Tech, which arrived in Melbourne Tuesday night, was unable to keep up with Kilsyth. The Yellow Jackets outscored the Cobras, 25-13, in the third quarter to even the game at 69. But Kilsyth outlasted Tech, using a 33-point outburst in the fouth quarter to run away with the game.
After making 51 percent of their field goals in the first three quarters, the Yellow Jackets cooled off. Georgia Tech hit just four of 15 field goal attempts in the final quarter.
The Yellow Jackets were led by Milli Martinez, a rising junior who scored 19 points. She also tallied six rebounds and a team-high four assists. Rising senior Candice McCallum scored 15 points and rising senior Regina Tate added 10 points and five rebounds.
Kilsyth jumped out to an early lead, claiming a 27-19 advantage after the first quarter, and took a 56-44 lead into the lockerroom at halftime. Martinez and McCallum helped the Yellow Jackets climb back into the game with a strong third quarter. The duo combined for 12 points as Georgia Tech erased the halftime deficit with a 25-13 period.
Before the game, the Yellow Jackets enjoyed a day of touring Melbourne. A bus tour of the city included a visit to the largest casino in the Southern hemisphere and the Remembrance Shrine.
The Yellow Jackets continue their 11-day, five-game trip Thursday with a visit to the historic Queen Victoria Market and a game against the Melbourne Tigers.
