Lady Dawgs Stung By Jackets

BASKETBALL

Georgia Tech scored 17 points off of 16 Georgia turnovers and outscored the Lady Dawgs 34-22 after halftime in a 69-53 Yellow Jacket victory Sunday at Alexander Memorial Coliseum in Atlanta.

The 21^st-ranked Lady Dawgs fall to 6-2 while intrastate rival Georgia Tech moves to 7-4 with the win.

“Georgia Tech is very quick and they use their quickness, which is the difference,” said head coach Andy Landers. “They used it today to get to the boards, get up and down the floor, and beat us to loose balls. We didn’t do a good job converting and really let some easy ones get away from us. It’s a tough situation to be in – one that we’ve been in before. Today it was our failure to get back on defense, leaving some people open and leading to some easy baskets for Georgia Tech.”

Georgia Tech saw three players in double figures in Tyaunna Marshall with 20, Alex Montgomery with 18, and Metra Walthour with 16. Georgia got 13 from Jasmine Hassell while Porsha Phillips put up nine and added 15 boards on the afternoon. Georgia outrebounded the Jackets 50-29 but shot just 33 percent from the floor – including 2 of 11 from three – as Georgia Tech was able to come away with the victory for just the fourth time in the series history between the Peach State rivals.

The Lady Dawgs led by as many as four in the first half as the opening stanza saw eight ties and five lead changes. Turnovers cost Georgia starting early on, as Tech pieced together an early 8-3 run to take a 14-9 lead on a three for Montgomery with 14:35 on the clock. Freshman Ronika Ransford used a three of her own, taking a crisp pass from Jasmine James out on the wing, to make it 18-16 in favor of Tech with 10:45 left in the opener.

James then picked the pocket of GT’s Sasha Goodlet and put in a driving lay-up with the shot clock about to expire on the ensuing possession to tie things up at 18 all with 9:48 left. A pass in from Phillips to rookie Khaalidah Miller on a cut gave Georgia a 22-20 lead and capped an 11-2 Dawg run with 8:25 remaining, and the Lady Dawgs then converted on their fifth straight basket to take a four-point lead, 24-20, with 8:00 to go.

Tech scored its first bucket in six minutes when Montgomery hit a three that would tie it at 24 with 6:41 left in the first, and the Yellow Jackets came alive at the end of the half to regain control and take a 35-31 lead into the intermission as Walthour hit a falling jumper from the wing with time expiring in the first.

Despite a closely-contested opening frame, the second half would be all Georgia Tech, as the Yellow Jackets never surrendered the halftime lead and the closest the Lady Dawgs would get after halftime was a one-point deficit, 37-36, with 17:28 remaining in the second on a Phillips turnaround jumper.

Tech increased its lead to double digits for the first time with 14:31 left on a lay-up from Goodlet that made it 48-38. A jumper for Miller with 10:53 to go that made it 54-45 was the last time the Lady Dawgs would be within single digits, and the Yellow Jackets put the dagger in it on another three from Montgomery from the right corner that made it a 14-point home-team advantage, 59-45, with 9:35 left.

GT continued to hit outside shots and stifle Georgia with its full-court press throughout the second half, holding on for a 16-point victory Sunday in the state capital.

Georgia is still 29-4 all-time in the series with the Yellow Jackets, including a 10-3 mark in Atlanta.

The Lady Dawgs will regroup in time to take on another in-state rival, welcoming Mercer to Stegeman Coliseum for Tuesday night’s 7 p.m. meeting.