Tech women pull away from UGA to win 69-53
It took the Georgia Tech women's basketball teams 27 years to finally take down Georgia. Eight years later, the 21st-ranked Lady Bulldogs are still having trouble regaining the upper hand, especially in Atlanta.
The Yellow Jackets used a big day from a freshman and some stifling defense to win for the fourth time in their past six home games against Georgia, 69-53. It was the widest margin of victory in the series for Tech, topping the 2008 win by one point.
Tech had little trouble cruising to a double-digit victory over its long-time nemesis that won the first 24 games in the series before the Jackets (7-4) finally had a breakthrough in 2002.With four wins in the past nine meetings, it appears that Tech has started to assert itself in the rivalry.
"I told these guys today at practice, it's not an upset if we win," Georgia Tech coach MaChelle Joseph said. "We don't need to act like it's an upset, because it's not. We've beaten ranked teams before. We're expected to win at home. We're a very good basketball team. It would be an upset if they beat us here, in my mind."
Andy Landers, in his 36th season coaching the Lady Bulldogs (6-2) and witness to many Georgia victories in Atlanta, recognizes the level of play has risen with the Jackets.
"They're better," Landers said. "Tech, in past years, had some really good basketball teams. For whatever reason, we were able to come over and beat them. ... The thing's gotten closer now, there's no question about it."
The game was tight throughout the first half and stayed that way until freshman Tyaunna Marshall sparked the Jackets on a 13-3 run that helped build a 50-39 lead. Georgia couldn't cut the lead to fewer than nine the rest of the way.
Marshall scored nine of her game-high 20 points during the first seven minutes of the second half, including seven during the run that gave the Jackets their big lead.
In her first game against the Bulldogs, Marshall showed she can be a spark for the Jackets when her shot gets going.
"The thing about Ty is she is an offensive threat," Joseph said. "She had a couple of games there where she struggled a little bit offensively, but I wasn't worried about it, because to ask a freshman to play 11 games in 21 days against the best teams in the country and be your leading scorer is a little difficult."
The scoring of Marshall and Alex Montgomery (18 points) helped the Jackets overcome a noticeable shortcoming against the Lady Bulldogs -- they were outrebounded 50-29. That included 26 offensive rebounds for Georgia, which registered only 20 second-chance points on those clean-up opportunities. The rebounding disparity didn't amount to much in the end.
"It's hard to believe you could outrebound somebody like that and not have the game a little closer or even win the basketball game," Landers said. "I was pleased with that piece, the rebounding piece. But after that, there's not a whole lot to talk about."
