Feb. 8, 2013
THE FLATS – Georgia Tech junior Tyaunna Marshall tallied 15 points and broke into the Yellow Jackets’ career scoring top 10 but the Jackets (10-13, 3-9 ACC) dropped a 63-61 decision to Virginia Tech (8-14, 2-9 ACC) Friday night at McCamish Pavilion.
Marshall entered the game with 1,350 career points and passed Fallon Stokes and Sasha Goodlett to climb into 10th all-time in the Gold and White.
Fellow junior Dawnn Maye tossed in 14 points and freshman Aaliyah Whiteside added 11 for the Jackets. Sophomore Sydney Wallace made two 3-pointers to tie her with Christie Finney for 10th all-time at GT with 79. Stephanie Higgs is ninth on the career 3-pointer list with 86.
“Obviously it’s a very disappointing loss,” head coach MaChelle Joseph said. “The fact of the matter is we did not deserve to win that game, we did not play hard enough. We should’ve learned over the last two games how hard you have to play at this level night in and night out. We just did not get the job done at the defensive end or on the boards, period.”
The Jackets used a 10-3 run midway through the first half to earn their largest lead of the opening period, nine at 28-19, with just over five minutes left before half. The Hokies answered with a 9-0 run of their own to tie the game at 28 with 3:11 to play before intermission. A pair of Danielle Hamilton-Carter free throws with 52 seconds left gave Georgia Tech a 33-31 halftime lead.
The opening five minutes of the second half saw one tie and two lead changes. After exchanging the lead four times in two minutes midway through the half, Virginia Tech grabbed the lead for good on an Alyssa Fenyn layup with 8:17 to go.
The Hokies built their lead to seven, 61-54, with 3:34 to go when Lauren Evans made a jumper on a Monet Tellier assist. Georgia Tech cut the lead to two, 63-61, with 1:24 to go on a Maye layup.
Evans missed two free throws with 11.1 seconds to play and Marshall missed an ensuing bucket after a Jacket inbounds play and Georgia Tech was forced to foul. Evans again missed two free throw attempts but Maye’s halfcourt shot at the buzzer was off the mark.
Georgia Tech will have a short turnaround before hosting North Carolina at 11:30 a.m. Sunday on Play4Kay day in Atlanta, which will air on ESPNU.
Fans are encouraged to follow Georgia Tech women’s basketball on Twitter, @GTWBB, and like the Yellow Jackets on Facebook, GTWomensBasketball, for an inside look at the program.
–RamblinWreck.com–
