Jacqua Williams and Jill Ingram plan a heist Saturday. They intend to walk into a Midwestern mansion and grab something precious, right out of the homeowners' hands. They've been getting away with similar thefts since November, and they hope their little crime spree continues into next week.

Georgia Tech's basketball season depends on it.

AP (ENLARGE)

Senior Jill Ingram, who led the Jackets in assists, brings speed off the bench.

NEXT FOR TECH • Who: Iowa State • When: 11 a.m. Saturday • TV; radio: ESPN2; 91.1 FM RELATED STORIES Jackets place three on preseason All-ACC team  Dickey leaving Tech to play pro in Ukraine  ACC commissioner likes state of conference  Tech's Michael Johnson on DE award list  Johnson: Nesbitt has to win QB job at Tech         • More Tech coverage

Williams ranks fourth on the NCAA's "Twenty Most Wanted." She steals basketballs at a rate of 3.8 per game. Ingram ranks 19th, at 3.1. Together, the light-fingered pair create about seven extra possessions per game for the Yellow Jackets, and a lot of those possessions end in fast-break layups.

That's a major reason Tech (22-9) finds itself in Des Moines, Iowa, playing a first-round game in the NCAA tournament.

The No. 10 seed Jackets' opponent, No. 7 seed Iowa State (20-12), prefers a plodding pace. It's up to Williams and Ingram, with help from their teammates, to hurry and harry the Cyclones.

"There's no doubt that our defensive pressure is going to be the key to this game," Tech coach MaChelle Joseph said. "Jacqua, she's our starter on defense, [and] everything starts with her, goes through her. Jill is a great complement to her. The two of them together are pretty dangerous out there. That's where our press starts and ends."

Williams is the pickpocket, her quick, long arms able to swipe the ball from the player in front of her. "She's 5-6 with a 6-2 wingspan," Joseph said. Ingram is like the defensive back, who can anticipate where a pass will go and get there to intercept it. They've got skills Iowa State doesn't see in the Big 12, which has none of the nation's 20 steals leaders and only one of the top 50.

"I don't really think they've played someone like our team, as far as steal-wise and aggressiveness," Williams said. "It's going to be exciting."

Williams was the hero last season when Tech won an NCAA tournament game for the first time. Chioma Nnamaka rebounded a missed shot by Ingram and passed to Williams, who saw an opening and headed straight for the basket. The ball rolled off her fingers and into the net to give Tech an 55-54 victory against DePaul.

"Hopefully, this game doesn't come down to a last-second shot," Williams said. "We have eight returning players, so experience is a main factor. We know what it takes now."

The Jackets raised their goal this season to reaching the Sweet 16, and Tech probably will need to knock off No. 2 seed Rutgers on Monday to get there. But the Jackets won't get to play a Monday game unless they can handle an Iowa State team playing a half-hour from its campus in front of some 10,000 of its fans at Hy-Vee Hall.

"I love it," Ingram said. "The atmosphere, when someone's going against you, it makes you want to work even harder, make them be quiet."

Ingram tore anterior cruciate ligaments in both knees before coming to Tech. Her right knee was surgically repaired when she was in eighth grade, her left when she was a high school senior. The effects of the last injury lingered into last season, she said, but now she's finally healthy. That, and the experience to anticipate opposing players' passes, has helped her make about 85 percent more steals than she did as a junior.

She also knows the next loss will end her career and that of Tech's other three seniors.

"It's getting down to the end," Ingram said. "I'm just risking it all, putting it all out there, because I've got nothing to lose."