LiveTotalCast: TECH vs. NC State
ATLANTA (Feb. 22) — Looking to end the regular season on a high note and maintain its standing in the Atlantic Coast Conference, Georgia Tech’s women’s basketball team travels to No. 14 NC State Thursday before hosting Maryland Sunday.
The Yellow Jackets (12-12 overall, 5-9 ACC) travel to Raleigh to take on the Wolfpack (20-6 overall, 11-4 ACC) at 7 p.m. Thursday and host Maryland (13-12 overall, 4-10 ACC) in the regular-season finale at 2 p.m. Sunday.
At 5-9 in the ACC, the Jackets are currently in sixth place entering the final week of the regular season.
Tech is looking to snap a three-game losing streak following a disappointing 77-74 loss to Florida State at home last Thursday.
“We want to finish the season strong,” said Tech head coach Agnus Berenato. “It’s going to be an uphill battle, however, going to NC State and hosting a very good Maryland team.”
NC State concludes its regular season against Tech and will be playing its fifth game without preseason ACC Player of the Year Summer Erb, who suffered a broken foot late in the Wolfpack’s win over North Carolina on Feb. 3.
The Wolfpack have lost their last two outings to Duke and Virginia, respectively.
“It certainly does not help us that they are coming off a loss,” Berenato said. “Losing Summer Erb is like us losing Niesha Butler (New York, N.Y.). Teams recover and regroup, so I’m not looking for anything different out of NC State. With Erb out, it just gives someone else the opportunity to step up.”
Sunday’s game with Maryland will be the final home game for Tech senior Danielle Donehew (Canton, Ga.) who became the Yellow Jackets’ career leader in three-pointers earlier this season.
“It’s Danielle’s last home game so it will be an emotional day,” Berenato said. “We haven’t had a senior who has meant this much to the program in a long time.”
Maryland is led by Marche Strickland, one to the top scorers in the ACC this season, averaging 14.2 points per game overall and 15.9 in conference games only.
The Jackets won the earlier meeting in College Park, Md., 73-67.
“We will have to work hard in order to win again,” Berenato said. “I think it was a huge upset when we won at Maryland. They are a very athletic team, so we are going to have to great game plan.”
Despite its current three-game losing streak, Berenato believes her team is playing well.
“I think we are playing well, we’re just not winning,” she said. “Against Florida State, I thought we played great in every aspect of the game except for free throw shooting. We have to put that game behind us and regroup.
“We can go in one of two ways. We can go up or we can go down. We need to go up.”
SERIES VS. NC STATE
Georgia Tech and NC State meet for the 43rd time Thursday in the series dating back to Jan. 12, 1980.
The Wolfpack hold a 33-9 advantage in the series and have won five of the last six meetings. Earlier this season in Atlanta, the Wolfpack downed Tech, 80-70. The Yellow Jackets won last year’s meeting in Raleigh, N.C., 74-73.
SERIES VS. MARYLAND
Georgia Tech and Maryland meet for the 42nd time Sunday in the series dating back to Nov. 27, 1979.
The Terrapins own a 31-10 advantage in the series, but Tech has won two of the last three meetings. The Jackets downed Tech earlier this season in College Park, Md., 73-67.
DONEHEW CONTINUES TO CLIMB ACC THREE-POINT SHOOTING CHARTS
With 225 career three-pointers, senior Danielle Donehew (Canton, Ga.) ranks fifth on the ACC career list. Donehew is three threes away from passing North Carolina’s Stephanie Lawrence, who ranks fourth in ACC all-time with 227 career threes. NC State’s Tammy Gibson is third with 230, and the Wolfpack’s Jennifer Howard is the ACC career leader with 315 threes.
Donehew also ranks fourth all-time in the ACC with 601 career three-point attempts. She moved past Gibson, (587) in the Yellow Jackets’ 77-74 loss to Florida State Thursday, Feb. 17. Donehew is 34 attempts away from passing North Carolina’s Stephanie Lawrence, who is presently third with 634 career three-point attempts. NC State’s Jennifer Howard is the all-time ACC leader with 717 career attempts.
Donehew also ranks 10th on the ACC career list for three-point shooting at 37.8 percent. Duke’s Jen Scanlon ranks ninth at 37.9 percent. NC State’s Jennifer Howard is the ACC career leader at 43.9 percent.
Brlin AMONG TECH’S FROSH ASSIST, STEALS LEADERS
Georgia Tech point guard Nina Brlin (Katrineholm, Sweden) already ranks among the Yellow Jackets’ top-10 for assists and steals by a freshman.
Through 24 games, Brlin has 82 assists, which is the sixth highest season assist total by a freshman in school history. Brlin also has 41 steals to date, which ties with Mary Rucker for the eighth-best steal total by a Tech freshman.
MOST ASSISTS BY A TECH FRESHMANRk. Player (Year) G Ast. Avg.1. Carmen Davis (1989-90) 30 173 (5.8)2. Niesha Butler (1998-99) 27 120 (4.4)3. Kisha Ford (1993-94) 27 108 (4.0)4. Ida Neal (1985-86) 27 97 (3.6)5. Tory Ehle (1983-84) 28 91 (3.3)6. Nina Brlin (1999-2000) 24 82 (3.4)7. Tiffany Martin(1993-94) 23 77 (3.4)8. Mary Giambruno(1979-80) 25 70 (2.8)9. Carla Munnion (1994-95) 30 67 (2.2)10. Anita Malone (1981-82) 24 65 (2.7)11. Kate Brandt (1980-81) 26 63 (2.4)MOST STEALS BY A TECH FRESHMANRk. Player (Year) G St. Avg.1. Kisha Ford (1993-94) 27 92 (3.4)2. Tiffany Martin(1993-94) 23 56 (2.4)3. Anita Malone (1981-82) 24 52 (2.2) Aimee Weiss (1989-90) 30 52 (1.7)5. Kate Brandt (1980-81) 26 47 (1.8) Niesha Butler (1998-99) 27 47 (1.7)7. Carmen Davis (1989-90) 30 46 (1.5)8. Mary Rucker (1979-80) 25 41 (1.6) Nina Brlin (1999-2000) 24 41 (1.7)9. Allison Echols(1988-89) 27 39 (1.4) Ida Neal (1985-86) 27 39 (1.4)
