Over the break, the Lady Jackets played two conference games, hosting Florida State on Thursday, Jan. 3, and traveling to Clemson on Sunday, Jan. 6, after losing to Duke earlier in the season.
Against Florida State, Tech played a strong first half, leading 45-38 at the break. After a three-pointer by junior guard Dawnn Maye that put Tech up by nine in the second half with 15:16 left to go, it appeared Tech was on their way to their first conference victory of the season. However, in a game that had nineteen lead changes, the Seminoles found a way to win, beating the Jackets 85-78.
Maye led the way for the Jackets, posting her fourth career double-double with 11 points and 12 assists. Senior forward Danielle Hamilton-Carter contributed a team high 13 points and also a led the Jackets with eight rebounds. Freshman guard Brittany Jackson also added 11 points to go along with four rebounds.
“I’m really proud of the way we came out. I thought we competed hard. There is no doubt we got better going up against another top-20 team. I thought we showed a lot of poise and composure and I saw a lot of improvement on the offensive end, said head coach MaChelle Joseph, courtesy of ramblinwreck.com.
Florida State out rebounded Tech 45-38, and scored 16 more points than the Jackets from inside the paint. The loss dropped Tech to 0-2 in ACC play, and to 7-6 overall.
Just three days later the Jackets traveled to Clemson to take on the Tigers. In arguably their best offensive game of the season, the Jackets won 81-54.
After junior Frida Fogdemark hit a three midway through the first half to give Tech an eight-point lead, the Jackets never looked back. Sophomore guard Sydney Wallace had one of her best games of the season scoring 19 points in just 23 minutes. Junior guard Tyaunna Marshall added 11 points to go along with three assists.
Tech shot 53.7 percent from the field and 47.1 percent from beyond three-point range. Tech’s eight three-pointers were the most in any game this season. The 81 points scored were also a season high for the Jackets.
“I was really impressed with how we came out offensively and defensively, and with the way we shared the ball. Even though we only had two players in double figures, we had several players score and make contributions on the offensive end,” Joseph said, courtesy of ramblinwreck.com. “I thought our defense [played well] for the most part, holding an ACC team on the road to less than 60 points, any time you do that you feel like you’ve done a good job defensively.”
With the win over Clemson, Tech is now 1-2 in conference play and 8-6 overall. The Jackets will travel to Chapel Hill where they will take on the North Carolina Tar Heels this Sunday, before traveling to Miami to play the Hurricanes on Thursday, Jan. 17.