GREENSBORO, N.C. — Losses at the college level with only 30-plus games in a season are hard to take. Georgia Tech’s latest loss at Notre Dame had the emotions of not only one defeat, but a full month of struggles where the team is searching far-and-wide to find some sort of answer with the chances to contend for a championship are dwindling.
Nell Fortner took most of the questions after the 71-53 loss. Senior forward Digna Strautmane, who gave her one response with depth and professionalism, stared into the assemblage of reporters blankly. The disappointment could be felt, because Tech fell short of its dream of winning a conference championship.
Tech hung around throughout play against the Fighting Irish, but an 11-0 run to close play was indicative of the team’s woes since the calendar turned to February. Tech had a number of punches, but never had enough answers.
“That’s a great team, Georgia Tech,” Notre Dame coach Niele Ivey said.
The credit by Ivey is a typical showing of respect to an opponent. Tech isn’t showing greatness at this point with six losses in nine games. But, those words aren’t too far-fetched. Tech had shown greatness through most of the season, and now it has to find it again with a week-plus remaining before learning its NCAA Tournament fate during the selection show March 13.
Tech took the women’s basketball world by storm on more than one occasion this season. It beat Georgia and Connecticut, which were regarded as ranking among the nation’s premier teams at the time of the Yellow Jackets’ victories. It took then-No. 3 Louisville to the brink in McCamish Pavilion and lost on a buzzer-beating layup. Tech had a stretch in ACC play where it won eight of nine games, including holding North Carolina, a team in contention for a top-four seed, to 38 points.
“We have to get back to our fundamentals,” Fortner said. “We have to get back to being the team we were at the beginning of the season. That’s being really locked in defensively. We were always able to stay in ball games until the end because of our defense.”
Tech, at one point, had the best scoring defense in the country and the top field-goal percentage defense in the ACC. It still ranks as fifth-best nationally with 51.9 points allowed per game, according to Her Hoop Stats. Over the past nine games, however, Tech has allowed 63.4 points per game.
The late-season rough patch by Tech dates back a month. The Jackets went to N.C. State on Feb. 7, the day it earned the highest AP poll ranking in school history, at No. 11. Much like Friday night, the Jackets struggled to score against the Wolfpack and it carried over to the defensive end. Tech lost that contest by 11 points, but finished play on a 10-0 run to cut its deficit nearly in half.
Before the ACC tournament, Fortner said her team’s biggest issue is man-to-man defense, which the statistics and trends verify. Tech held Wake Forest in the tournament opener to 22% shooting from the field, but Notre Dame shot 52% from the floor.
“The season is not over for us,” Strautmane said. “We’re going to work hard in practices, and nobody is relaxing or starting to rest.”
Tech enters NCAA tournament play with recent projections pegging it as a No. 7 seed. The Jackets were predicted to be as high as a No. 5 seed at one point, according to ESPN’s Charlie Creme, but the bracket expert has Tech as a No. 7 seed and headed to Baton Rouge, La., in the same regional as two-seeded LSU as of Saturday morning.
Tech will try to defend its Sweet 16 berth from a year ago. The glimpses of play from earlier in the season show it’s definitely possible. The Jackets, though, have faced a lot of attrition and don’t have the same roster as last March. The stars are returning, but Kierra Fletcher was sidelined with a foot injury and recently entered the transfer portal. Three games into the regular season, then-starting guard Loyal McQueen also entered the portal and landed at Alabama.
Consequently, Tech frequently plays with a two-or-three-deep bench. The starters get little rest. Sarah Bates, Aixa Wone-Aranaz and Avyonce Carter are the only consistent contributors available to replace them. Freshman Elizabete Bulane plays on occasion, too.
“The season takes a toll on you,” Fortner said. “We’ve had to play kids a lot of minutes, and it takes a toll not only physically but mentally. I think we’re seeing a bit of that.”
Tech’s first priority is rest. Then, that’ll be followed by shoring up defensive play and finding ways to get shots. Losses sting, especially in tournament time.
But, luckily for Tech, it has more basketball ahead.
“We’re thinking about those next games,” Strautmane said. “We’re going to be more ready to go. We will get better and play harder.”
Effects of Cubaj’s injury
The moment Tech took the floor for pregame warmups on Friday night, it quickly became a given that star senior Lorela Cubaj would be a full-go. It felt oh-so-significant for the Jackets after they had to claw to victory without their veteran anchor against Wake Forest, and Cubaj greatly bolsters Tech.
Less than 24 hours earlier, Cubaj had a second-quarter scare against the Demon Deacons. She was tripped and took a hard fall where her chin took a brunt of the contact. She suffered a bloody chin and had to undergo concussion protocols.
Tech quickly knew, though, that it wouldn’t hold Cubaj out with a chance to advance to the tournament semifinals.
“We pretty much knew last night,” Fortner said. “All of the protocols and everything made her available. She’s tough.”
She played with large bandaging around her chin, but barely missed a minute after sitting for three full quarters the night before. In some ways, however, Cubaj didn’t look like herself. Notre Dame had a 28-to-10 advantage in paint points, which Fortner said her team’s defense was in part because of not being “locked in mentally.”
Cubaj had her per-usual floor game, otherwise. She stuffed the stat sheet with 11 rebounds, five assists, two steals and a block. She scored only four points, coming on two fourth-quarter baskets when the game came out of reach. She shot 2-for-11.
Nonetheless, with more basketball left to play, Tech needs Cubaj. She’ll have more than a week to return to her star form.
“Lo was ready to play tonight,” Fortner said. “The size of Notre Dame is tough to deal with. Lo is tough, but anytime you take a hit like that with the result of it, I think she did her best to come back and help this team. I think we saw some of the effects with her game.”
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