Dec. 21, 2011
Nassau, Bahamas – The Georgia Tech women’s basketball team (9-3) survived a late rally by the Central Arkansas Sugar Bears (8-3) for the Yellow Jackets’ fourth straight win, 67-61, Wednesday night at Kendal Isaacs Gymnasium in Nassau, Bahamas.
Senior center Sasha Goodlett earned Bahamas Sunshine Shootout MVP honors after averaging 17.0 points and 5.0 rebounds in two Yellow Jacket wins. In Wednesday’s win over the Sugar Bears, Goodlett notched a career-high 23 points and scored her 1,000th career point with a layup at the 5:25 mark of the first half.
Goodlett is the 25th Jacket with 1,000 career points.
Senior Metra Walthour also earned all-tournament honors after averaging 10 points, to go with six total rebounds and six assists. Walthour finished with 16 points against UCA and her late free throws iced the win over the Sugar Bears. Sophomore Tyaunna Marshall added 11 points, her 11th double digit scoring game in 12 game outings this year.
Georgia Tech opened the game in much the same fashion as it ended Monday’s game, dominant on both ends. The Yellow Jackets raced out to an 8-0 lead not even two minutes in and held Central Arkansas without a point for nearly the first three minutes of the contest.
The Sugar Bears then went on a shooting spree, making four 3-pointers in their first six shots and taking a 16-12 advantage. Tech regained the lead at 21-20 when sophomore Frida Fogdemark hit her first three of the game at the 11:20 point.
The Jackets’ relentless defense held UCA without a field goal for almost 10 minutes late in the first half as Tech carried a 38-30 win into intermission. Tech has led at halftime in nine games and gone on to win eight of them.
Tech opened the second half with an 8-1 run, extending the Jackets’ eight point halftime edge to 12, 46-34, with 14:22 to play. The Yellow Jackets’ largest lead of the night, 15, came on the second of back-to-back 3-pointers by Walthour midway through the second half.
The Sugar Bears fought back and trimmed the Tech lead to four twice late in the game, 61-57 with 1:58 left and 65-61 with just 21 seconds left. Walthour’s two free throws with 6.1 seconds left secured a Yellow Jacket victory.
The Yellow Jackets will return to Atlanta tomorrow morning and have a break for the holidays. Tech will play its first home game in a month when the Jackets host North Carolina A&T at 2 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 29, at the Arena at Gwinnett Center. Fans can use the promotional code “HOLIDAY” when ordering tickets online to get two tickets for $6.50.
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— RamblinWreck.com –
