Georgia Tech women win tournament opener at their new second home

The Georgia Tech women are trying to transform Duluth’s Gas South Arena into McCamish Pavilion North.

The Yellow Jackets were 14-4 at home this season, and many of those faithful fans turned out to transform the facility into a little bit of white-and-gold heaven. Bolstered by the presence of a heavily partial crowd of 5,192 — and despite playing with only seven healthy players — Georgia Tech whipped Florida State 72-60 in the first round of the ACC women’s basketball tournament on Wednesday.

“After what we did at McCamish this season, we’re calling this home, too,” first-year Georgia Tech coach Karen Blair said. “Our defensive rebounding has been so elite at home, so we just moved it a little north.”

No. 11-seeded Georgia Tech (14-17) advances to play sixth-seeded Virginia Tech on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. The Yellow Jackets lost to the Hokies by nine points on Feb. 22 in Blacksburg.

“They deserve to be on this big stage,” Blair said. “I think everybody knows we’re a dangerous team. The way we defend, the way we rebound, and when we start scoring the basketball, some great things happen for us. That’s why I’m excited for them.”

Georgia Tech used a 10-0 run — with five different players scoring points — early in the first quarter to take control of the game. The Yellow Jackets never let FSU get closer than three points and maintained a double-digit advantage most of the game. Whenever the Seminoles would try to make a run, Tech would answer and turn them away.

“This is what I love about them,” Blair said. “They don’t get too high when things are going great, and they don’t get too low when things aren’t going our way. That is why we’ve been able to compete in every single game and, even in our losses, they’re usually under 10 points, because these guys somehow, some way, they’re going to find a way to fight and keep themselves in the game.”

On Wednesday, three underclassmen provided the offense — junior La’Nya Foster (18 points, eight rebounds) and sophomores Erica Moon (17 points) and Talayah Walker (16 points). They were in attack mode from the start, and Florida State had no answer; the Yellow Jackets either scored or went to the free-throw line.

Tech was 22-for-26 at the line. Florida State shot only four free throws.

“They’re a very physical team,” Florida State coach Brooke Wyckoff said. “They did the same thing the first time we played them (an 80-69 Tech win in Tallahassee).”

The physical play continued on the glass, where Tech outrebounded FSU 37-33. Senior Brianna “Snoop” Turnage, named to the All-ACC Defensive Team, had nine rebounds against her former team.

If there was a negative for Tech, it was 16 turnovers that led to 21 points. But it proved to be a minor consequence.