The Georgia Tech women’s basketball team lost two close games at home during the weekend of February 8. The Jackets lost 63-61 against Virginia Tech on February 8, and dropped a 60-58 contest against No. 16 ranked North Carolina on Sunday.
Georgia Tech had well rounded scoring against Virginia Tech. Junior Tyaunna Marshall’s 15 points put her tenth on the all-time list for women’s basketball at Georgia Tech. Junior guard Dawnn Maye had 14 points, and freshman Aaliyah Whiteside added 11 points each.
Virginia Tech junior guard Monet Tellier lead the Hokies with 24 points to go along with five rebounds and four assists. Senior guard Aerial Wilson had 11 points for Virginia Tech to go along with two rebounds and an assist.
Tech women’s basketball team lost two close games at home during the weekend.
The game between the two Tech’s was close throughout. Both teams had scoring runs in the last 10 minutes of the first half. Two late free-throws gave the Jackets a 33-31 lead going into the half.
In the second half, the Jackets and Hokies traded leads for the first 11 minutes, before a layup with 8:17 left in the game put the Hokies up for good. Virginia Tech extended their lead to seven with just 3:34 left in the game, but the Jackets fought back to get to within two that put the score at 63-61 with 1:24 to go.
However, the Jackets were not able to capitalize on missed free-throws by the Hokies, and the 63-61 score held up as the final score in the loss.
The Jackets then played the second game of the season against UNC on Sunday, their ninth game against a ranked opponent.
Marshall had yet another double-double, scoring 19 points and pulling down 11 rebounds. Senior Danielle Hamilton-Carter nearly had a double-double as well with 10 points and 8 rebounds off the bench, while Dawnn Maye had nine points, seven assists, and seven steals. Sophomore guard Sydney Wallace hit a three-pointer early in the first half to move her into sole possession of tenth all- time in three-pointers made as a Jacket.
The two teams played a close first half, with Tech tying the game at 26 with 5:32 left. However, the Tar Heels would tighten up their defense and go on an 8-0 run before the half ended with the Jackets down 34-29.
Tech started the second half with four straight points, but would then run into trouble. Some poor shooting and ill-timed turnovers kept the Jackets chasing the Heels for most of the second half. A layup by Whiteside with about seven minutes left in the game, however, finally brought the Jackets to a tie at 48.
A clutch score by Marshall off of a give and go from freshman center Nariah Taylor would give the Jackets their first lead since 9:01 of the first half and put the score at 50-48.
Tech then extended the lead out to as much as five points with four minutes remaining. Two jumpers by UNC would give them a one point lead with under two minutes left, but Marshall responded with a layup following a steal off the inbounds to give the Jackets a 58-57 lead with 46.5 seconds left in the game.
The Tar Heels would then take a two point lead, and a missed three-pointed by Whiteside with 2.5 seconds left in the game sealed final outcome.
The upset bid by the Jackets was marred by a 35.5 percent shooting percentage from the field in the game and 31 turnovers. However, the Tar Heels had similar statistics, shooting 37.5 percent from the field with 29 turnovers.
Following a seven game losing streak, the Jackets have been 2-2 over their past four games. The game against UNC stands out in particular as a sign of change for the Jackets, as the Jackets were blown-out in a 21 point loss in the first meeting between the two this season.
The Georgia Tech women’s basketball team will look to continue their better play when they next meet North Carolina State on Sunday, Feb. 17. They will play their next game at the Flats on Feb. 24 against the University of Miami.