Feb. 7, 2009
ATLANTA – The Georgia Tech women’s basketball team returns home Sunday when it hosts NC State (9-13, 1-6 ACC). Tipoff at Alexander Memorial Coliseum is slated for 2 p.m.
Fans can listen to Richard Musterer and Kurt Hoyt call the play-by-play on WREK Radio (91.1 FM/www.wrek.org), Georgia Tech women’s basketball’s flagship station, as well as XM Radio (Channel 192). The game will also be available to view on ACC Select.
The Yellow Jackets (16-6, 4-4) will take part in the WBCA Pink Zone imitative as they don pink uniforms to honor former NC State head coach Kay Yow and to support breast cancer awareness. Alex Montgomery leads the team with 13.2 points a game, while averaging a team-leading 7.0 rebounds.
The Wolfpack, who lost their head coach to a long battle with breast cancer, is coming off a loss No. 13 Maryland. Shayla Fields leads three members of the Pack that are scoring in double-figures with 17.6 points a game. Lucy Ellison is averaging a team-high 6.7 rebounds a game.
NC State is 39-17 against the Yellow Jackets all-time.
TECH VS. NC STATE
• NC State holds a 39-17 lead in the all-time series but the Yellow Jackets have won two straight.
• This will mark the first time Tech will face an NC State team not coached by Kay Yow.
• Under head coach MaChelle Joseph, the Jackets are 3-3 against the Wolfpack.
• The Wolfpack list two players from the state of Georgia (Nikitta Gartrell of Atlanta and Lucy Ellison of Shiloh).
NEXT UP: SAVANNAH STATE
Georgia Tech will return to action Wednesday night when they open a stretch of four road games in its next five contests at Savannah State. Tipoff at Tiger Arena is set for 7 p.m. Last season, Tech defeated the Tigers, 82-28, in Atlanta.
LOOKING BACK: JACKETS FALL ON THE ROAD AT WAKE FOREST, 68-60
The Yellow Jackets got a career day from freshman Sasha Goodlett but the Georgia Tech women’s basketball team (16-6, 4-4 ACC) fell to Wake Forest (15-5, 3-4), 68-60, at Lawrence Joel Coliseum Tuesday night.
Goodlett finished with a career-best 15 points and seven rebounds in 33 minutes as Tech scored 36 points in the paint but the Demon Deacons outscored Tech 31-10 from the free-throw line on the evening.
COACH JO GETS NUMBER 1-OH-OH
In just her sixth season at the helm, Coach MaChelle Joseph is already has recorded the second-most wins in Tech history. Joseph has registered a 100-72 (.581) record and is the fastest coach in school history to win 100. She has led Tech to its first back-to-back 20-win seasons and two straight NCAA Tournaments. She registered her 100th victory on Feb. 1, 2009 against Clemson.
CHOW 4 YOW INITIATIVE
The Georgia Tech women’s basketball program in conjunction with the Atlantic Coast Conference is participating in the “Chow 4 Yow” Initiative. All ACC women’s basketball coaches have come together in support of former NC State head women’s basketball coach Kay Yow.
Tech head Coach MaChelle Joseph and her staff have organized an exciting opportunity for individuals to win “A Day at the GTAA”. Yellow Jacket fans will have the opportunity to go online and bid on this event from today through Feb. 7 in support of the Kay Yow/WBCA Cancer FundTM. The winners will be announced at the Pink Zone game against NC State on Feb. 8.
The Kay Yow/WBCA Cancer FundTM is the sole charity beneficiary of the WBCA. With 100 percent of the league’s women’s basketball coaches and administrative staffs supporting the initiative, each school will conduct a “Meal with the Coach” fundraiser this season at his or her institution. All proceeds will be pooled together as a single donation to the Kay Yow/WBCA Cancer FundTM.
THE JACKETS IN PINK
The Yellow Jackets will don pink uniforms on Sunday to honor former NC State head coach Kay Yow and support the fight against breast cancer. The pink uniforms have Georgia Tech in blue lettering with white outlining. The jersey also has a “Yow” patch on the upper-right corner. After the game, Tech will be auctioning off the uniforms to continue to raise money for the Kay Yow/WBCA Cancer FundTM.
PICK A POCKET OR TWO
After three-plus seasons on the Flats, senior Jacqua Williams has earned the reputation as one of the best defenders in the nation. The speedster from Seattle, Wash., recorded her 279th career steal on Nov. 22, 2008 against Mississippi Valley State for a new school record, surpassing Kisha Ford and Tiffany Martin on the all-time steals list. Williams plans to obliterate the previous record during the remainder of the season.
Last season, Williams finished with a single-season school record 118 steals, leading the ACC and ranking fourth in the nation with 3.8 per game. She has registered at least one steal in 61 straight games and even held the ACC single game record for steals with 11 (later broken by former Yellow Jacket Jill Ingram with 14). This season she leads the Jackets with 81 steals and has 342 on her career. She now ranked seventh all-time in the ACC after passing former North Carolina standout Marion Jones. She currently leads the ACC and ranks third in the nation in steals with 3.7 per game.
NOT JUST A DEFENDER
Jacqua Williams has been known as a defensive-specialist since she came to Georgia Tech but those have come to an end. Not only has she become one of the best defensive players in the ACC but she is just as strong on the offensive side of the ball. Williams is averaging 12.3 points per contest and has scored in double-figures in 17 of Tech’s 22 games. She also leads the team with 79 assists on the year and has grabbed 3.0 rebounds a game.
SHE CAN DO IT ALL
Anyone who watched Alex Montgomery play last season knows she can really do it all. She is not only the team’s top returning scorer (10.8) and rebounder (5.4), Montgomery has also shown she can dish it, steal it, block it or even win a jump ball. A starter of 26 games as a freshman, Montgomery has become the center of the Yellow Jackets offense. She is averaging 13.2 points and has grabbed 7.0 rebounds a game.
Montgomery has registered five double-doubles this season.
FROM BEYOND THE ARC
With the graduation of Chioma Nnamaka, the program’s all-time leader in three’s made, coach Joseph needed someone to step up and knock down a big three for the Jackets. Alex Montgomery has become that threat. She has nailed 51 trey’s this season and 83 for her career, moving her into eighth-place on the Georgia Tech all-time three-pointers made list. She is also shooting 34 percent from beyond-the-arc.
AUSSIE, AUSSIE, AUSSIE … OYE, OYE, OYE
Junior Brigitte Ardossi started 26 games during her freshman season and helped the Jackets to their first win in the NCAA Tournament. Last season she was regulated to the first big off the bench and made the most of her opportunity by scoring 3.9 points per game and grabbing 2.8 rebounds in 14.5 minutes. Coach Joseph expects big things from her Aussie post-player in 2008-09 and has inserted her back into the starting lineup. She has played in 86 straight games, every game since coming to the Flats, and has started 46 of those games.
Ardossi, who has elevated her game to a new level, is scoring 7.5 points a game and is grabbing 4.0 rebounds per game. She is also knocking down her free-throw attempts at an 84% clip. She had hit 19 straight free-throws going back to the Winthrop game, before missing one at Wake Forest.
Against Tennessee Tech on Nov. 30, 2008, Ardossi scored a career-high 18 points to lead Tech to the win. On Dec. 5, Ardossi helped Tech defeat its archrival Georgia with her first career double-double (15 pts, 10 reb).
MOVING OUT
Sophomore Iasia Hemingway excelled as an undersized post player for the Jackets last season, scoring over 20 points against the likes of Maryland’s Crystal Langhorne and Tasha Humphrey of Georgia. This season, Coach Joseph has added some taller players to the Jackets roster that will allow Hemingway to take her game outside to the wing. Hemingway will now have a chance to not only post up players her height, she will also be able to take the ball to the basket and box out smaller guards for rebounds.
Hemingway is averaging 10.3 points and is registering 4.6 rebounds a game. She recorded her first career double-double against Georgia State (21 pts, 11 reb.) on Nov. 26, 2008. Hemingway has also shown a knack for getting to the free-throw line, with 81 attempts so far and is shooting 64 percent from the charity stripe.
SIXTH (WO)MAN
Most teams are lucky enough to have a solid starting five. This season, Joseph feels she can list six starters on her roster. Sophomore Deja Foster has shown the ability to step on the court and make an instant impact for the Jackets. Foster is averaging 26.0 minutes and has started four games this season, including her first career start on Nov. 30, 2008 against Tennessee Tech.
Foster is scoring 7.7 points a game and is averaging 4.6 rebounds and 2.0 steals. Against Michigan State, she sparked Tech in the final five minutes with her first career three-pointer and back-to-back three-point plays on her way to a career-high 13 points.
FULL COURT PRESS
Last season, Georgia Tech finished the season with a school record 456 steals and led the NCAA with 14.3 steals per game. This has to be credited to Coach Joseph’s pressing defense. Joseph will press for 40 minutes with numerous pressing schemes to keep the offensive off-balance. Joseph wants her team to “be an impressive running defensive team that creates opportunities for the offense.” More than half way through the season, Tech is once agains leading the nation by averaging a staggering 14.1 steals a game.
The Yellow Jackets have scored 514 points off of turnovers and are averaging 23.4 points per contest off opponent turnovers.
THERE IS NO PLACE LIKE HOME
Since Joseph began her tenure, Georgia Tech is 67-21 (.761) at Alexander Memorial Coliseum. Last season, Tech finished with a program-best 14-2 mark on the Coliseum floor and is off to a good start in 2008-09, registering a 10-1 mark so far.
