March 23, 2012
The No. 15/13 ranked Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets have an opportunity to put an emphatic stamp on their most recent piece of school history, the Jackets’ first Sweet 16 appearance, when Tech takes on No. 1 overall seed and top-ranked Baylor in a 1:30 matinee Saturday, March 24, at the Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines, Iowa. Georgia Tech has never beat a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament or a No. 1 ranked team.
After having played the first and second rounds in ACC territory, the Jackets will find themselves headed to somewhat familiar postseason territory. This will be the third time in the last five years Georgia Tech has played an NCAA Tournament game in the State of Iowa.
Freshman Sydney Wallace picked a most opportune time to break out as she scored 51 points in only 46 minutes of play in two opening-weekend games. Wallace set a Georgia Tech NCAA Tournament record with 28 points against Sacred Heart. Senior Sasha Goodlett added her ninth and 10th double-doubles of the season in the Yellow Jackets’ first two tournament games.
Tournament Central: Fans are encouraged to check out Georgia Tech’s NCAA Tournament Central page. The page includes links to roster, stats and schedule for all four teams in Des Moines, as well as a schedule for the weekend, the latest Georgia Tech videos, the Yellow Jackets live, in-game blog and a Twitter feed to stay up-to-date on the latest happenings from the Ramblin Wreck.
Goal Is Good: It has been noted throughout the season that the 2012 Georgia Tech senior class had three goals for their final year on The Flats. They were: (1) to become the Institute’s all-time winningest class, (2) was to play for and win an ACC Championship and (3) was to advance to the program’s first Sweet 16. The five currently have 95 career wins, the most of any Tech class, the Jackets advanced to only the second ACC Championship Game in program history and with a win over Georgetown, Tech earned its spot in the Jackets first Sweet 16.
Big Stage Syd: Freshman Sydney Wallace set the Georgia Tech record for points in a game with 28 against Sacred Heart in her first NCAA Tournament game. Against the Pioneers, she also set the GT record for most field goals made, 3-pointers and field goal percentage.
She added to her short, but impressive NCAA Tournament resume with 23 points against Georgetown in the Second Round to become the first Yellow Jacket to score at least 20 points in her first two NCAA Tournament Games.
Wallace is just the fourth Jacket, joining Tyaunna Marshall, assistant coach Janie Mitchell and former Tech star Chioma Nnamaka as the only players to score double digits in their first two NCAA Tournament games.
Half A Hundo: Wallace scored 51 points in Tech’s first two NCAA Tournament games this season (in only 46 minutes). She was only one of three players to accomplish the feat. The other two were Delaware’s Elena Delle Donne (73) and Penn State’s Maggie Lucas (53).
Wallace’s 25.5 points per game average was fourth best for the opening weekend (Rutgers’ Erica Wheeler scored 28 points in RU’s only game).
She’s Heating Up: Chelsea Regins finished the opening weekend with the best field goal percentage of anyone. Regins converted 87.5 percent of her field goal attempts in the first two games.
From Way Downtown: Wallace’s 11 3-pointers were the most of any player on the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament.
Double Trouble: Sasha Goodlett was one of only three players to record a double-double in both the first and second round games. LSU’s LaSondra Barrett and Delle Donne were the other two.
