ATLANTA (Oct. 11) — Georgia Tech’s women’s basketball team opens its 1999-2000 season with a ‘Midnight Madness’ scrimmage beginning at 12:01 a.m. Saturday at Alexander Memorial Coliseum at McDonald’s Center. The scrimmage is free and open to the public.
“I’m really excited about starting our season,” said Yellow Jacket head coach Agnus Berenato, who is beginning her 12th year at the Tech helm. “I have seen more enthusiasm and hard work from our players and coaches this year, than I have ever seen before. Since the players came back on Aug. 18, the freshmen have been pushing our upperclassmen hard in workouts, and our upperclassmen have responded well to that. I’m really fired up and can’t wait to get to our first practice.”
The Yellow Jackets return eight letterwinners and three starters in 5-8 senior guard Danielle Donehew (Canton, Ga.) (11.6 ppg), 5-11 junior forward Regina Tate (Columbus, Ga.) (9.9 ppg) and 5-8 sophomore guard Niesha Butler (New York, N.Y.) (19.3 ppg) from last year’s 13-14 squad that finished sixth in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
Berenato and the Jackets’ goal this season is to be among the 64 teams invited to the NCAA Tournament.
“That’s our goal for this year, but I think everything really started last year when our last game was over,” said Berenato. “It started with the attitude of Niesha Butler and Danielle Donehew saying, ‘Next year, we’re going to the tournament.’ It’s going to be an uphill battle, because the ACC will once again have five team ranked in the top-25. However, we are ready for the challenge.”
IMPORTANT DATESOct. 16 Midnight Madness Scrimmage 12:01 a.m.Oct. 18 Media Day 2 p.m.Oct. 23 Georgia Tech Hoopfest 5 p.m.Nov. 5 Exhibition vs. Basketball Travelers 7 p.m.Nov. 11* Exhibition vs. Russian Team 7 p.m.Nov. 23 Season Opener at Georgia State 6 p.m.Nov. 26 Home Opener vs. Elon 2 p.m.
*Game originally scheduled for Nov. 16
