Feb. 21, 2002
Clemson, S.C. — Chrissy Floyd scored 20 points and senior Krystal Scott added 15 points and seven assists in leading Clemson to a 68-65 victory over Georgia Tech Thursday night at Clemson’s Littlejohn Coliseum. The victory increased Clemson’s record to 16-10 overall, 8-7 in the ACC, while Tech fell to 14-12 overall, 7-9 in the ACC.
Clemson will play at NC State on Monday night in the regular season finale. Georgia Tech will play Morris Brown on Saturday afternoon. The victory avenged an earlier 83-78 loss in Atlanta to Georgia Tech on January 26th.
The Clemson victory also assures the Lady Tigers of at least a break-even season in the ACC. Clemson has been at least .500 or better in ACC play all 15 years Jim Davis has been the head coach.
Georgia Tech was led in scoring by Fallon Stokes, who had 21 points and four rebounds before fouling out. Regina Tate had a double-double with 14 points and 15 rebounds. She played all 40 minutes and was a big reason Georgia Tech out-rebounded Clemson by a 41-30 margin. In fact, she had three times as many caroms as Clemson’s leading rebounder in the game.
Megan Isom added 12 points for Tech, who shot 43.1 percent from the field, compared to 41.4 percent for Clemson. Both teams shot the ball at a high rate from the foul line. Georgia Tech was 13-16 and Clemson was 16-19, including 10-11 in the second half.
Lakeia Stokes added 10 points in support of Floyd and Scott, while Marci Glenney added eight points on 3-4 shooting. Julie Aderhold had six, including a big three-point goal down the stretch, and Leah Roper connected for six points and four rebounds. All three of her field goals came on drives to the basket.
Clemson jumped out to an 18-9 in the first 10 minutes of the game behind Stokes, who scored eight of Clemson’s first 18 points. That would be he largest lead of the game for either team. But, late in the half, Stokes suffered an injury and did not return to the game.
Tech made a comeback behind Jasmina Pacariz. The sophomore from Stockholm, Sweden had played just 31 minutes all year and scored just four points. But, she hit 4-4 shots in the first half and scored eight points, blocked three shots and pulled in five rebounds. She exceeded her season totals entering the game in those categories in the first half.
Tech closed the gap to 30-28 on a push shot by Isom with four minutes left. But, Clemson went on a 9-4 run to end the half and Clemson led 39-32 at intermission.
Georgia Tech tied the game at 43 at the 14:12 mark of the game on a drive by Fallon Stokes. Tech then took the lead off an 8-0 run at 56-53 with 7:05 left on a rebound goal by Tate.
The teams battled back and forth the remainder of the game. A three-point goal by Aderhold put Clemson up 62-61 with 2:42 left, but Tate answered with two free throws at the other end to put Tech up one.
Clemson retook the lead on a drive and score by Scott with 1:04 left. Scott, a four-year senior, was playing in her final game and she made the most of it. After a Tate miss, Clemson got the ball back on a rebound by Slosser. Two free throws by Scott gave Clemson a 66-63 advantage. Tech cut the lead to 66-65 with 11 seconds left on two free throws by Isom. Floyd then made a pair of free throws with 9.4 seconds remaining to put Clemson up 68-65.
Georgia Tech had one last shot to tie the game with a three-point goal, but Millie Martinez missed an attempt from the top of the key. The ball went out of bounds with 0.4 seconds left. Tech in-bounded the ball, but a three-point attempt by Isom failed and was after the buzzer.
“I can not be more proud of my team,” said Head Coach Jim Davis. “We fought hard and we were fortunate to win. Leah Roper was clutch when it came to dribble penetration on offense, and she was outstanding on the defensive end. She came up big. Maggie Slosser came up with some important rebounds late in the game. Chrissy Floyd made some big shots in the lane and free throws down the stretch. This was an important victory.”
