CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – Georgia Tech, the team without a home court, is enjoying success in the NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament on an ACC rival's turf.
If they can get one more victory in North Carolina's Carmichael Arena, the Yellow Jackets can pack their bags for the regionals.
Georgia Tech took a successful first step in the NCAA tournament Sunday, dispatching Northeast Conference champion Sacred Heart 76-50 in the first round as freshman wing guard Sydney Wallace came off the bench to score a season-high 28 points.
The Yellow Jackets (25-8) will take on Georgetown, a 61-56 winner over Fresno State, at 7 p.m. Tuesday in the second round with a berth in the Des Moines (Iowa) Regional at stake.
The win over Sacred Heart (27-6) was the third in a row at Carmichael for Georgia Tech, which beat UNC here in each of the last two seasons. And it was never in doubt after the opening 10 minutes.
The Yellow Jackets trailed 9-7 when Sacred Heart senior forward Callan Taylor scored in the low post at the 14:25 mark. But Taylor picked up her second foul at 13:09 and went to the bench, and Georgia Tech promptly put together an 13-1 run to take the lead for good.
“It took us a while to get our feet under us,” Georgia Tech coach MaChelle Joseph said. “We've been off for two weeks. Once we got our defense going, we were able to convert some easy baskets on the offensive end.”
With 6-foot-5 post Sasha Goodlett powering her way inside to 12 points (nine in the first half) and 11 rebounds, Georgia Tech surged in front. Wallace made it 22-10 with a short jumper, but she was just getting warmed up. Over the final 8:16 of the half, she poured in 11 points without missing a shot – including a 3-of-3 effort from 3-point range.
She would end up 11-of-13 from the field, 6-of-8 on 3's, and blow away her previous high game of 16 points.
“We brought her to Georgia Tech to score, and she's done that in spurts,” Joseph said.
“Today she took it to a whole other level. One of the things we've been talking to her about is putting two halves together, because we knew if she could put two halves together she could have big numbers. Today she stepped out there and really knocked down shots.”
“I just went out there with confidence, and once I knocked down the first shot, I was very confident and just continued to shoot,” Wallace said. “When I'm open and my teammates find me, it's my job to knock down the shots.”
Wallace wasn't the only sub to contribute in the scoring column. Mo Bennett came off the bench to add 11 points on 4-of-5 shooting as the Yellow Jackets hit at a 52.9 percent clip from the field.
The efforts from Wallace and Bennett more than offset a subpar scoring day from Tyaunna Marshall, who finished with two points on 1-of-7 shooting, well off her team-leading 15.3 average.
“Usually when Ty struggles, we struggle to score,” Joseph said. That wasn't the case Sunday, and Georgia Tech's defense never let Sacred Heart get comfortable on offense.
“It wasn't one of our better games, but I think Georgia Tech did a terrific job,” Sacred Heart coach Ed Swanson said. “They are so athletic, and they took us out of what we wanted to do.”
Up 36-21 at halftime, the Yellow Jackets had a 20-point lead in less than six minutes and reached as much as 30 (71-41) with 5:42 to play. Georgia Tech's full-court zone press helped account for 20 turnovers by Sacred Heart, which Tech converted into 31 points. The Pioneers, who got 13 points from Gabrielle Washington and 10 from Taylor, shot only 39 percent, but for most of the game hovered around the 30 percent mark.
“One of the things we talked about when we started building this program nine years ago was that we were going to build it on defense and rebounding,”Joseph said.
“This is probably my best offensive team since I've been at Georgia Tech. But our defense is what got us here, and our defense is what will keep us here.”
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