A year ago, Tyaunna Marshall called her mother in tears, the burden of carrying her team having overwhelmed her.
The feeling is quite different this season for Georgia Tech’s estimable guard. Marshall is still pulling more than her weight for the Yellow Jackets, but with an elite running mate in freshman guard Kaela Davis and a developing team that may be finding its stride, Marshall is freely exploring the limits of her ability.
“I think there’s no one (in the ACC) that’s playing as well as Ty right now,” coach MaChelle Joseph said.
As her career draws to a close, the Georgia Tech guard is churning out highlights by the fistful. Feb. 6, she led Tech to an upset of No. 13 North Carolina – the Yellow Jackets’ first win over a ranked team since March 2012 – and in the process became the school’s all-time leading scorer.
Feb. 9, she led Tech to its first road win over Miami since 2010 with 24 points and a career-high seven steals. Feb. 10, last Monday, she was named ESPN’s national player of the week. Last Wednesday, she was named to the 30-player midseason watch list for the Naismith Trophy, for college basketball’s player of the year. Friday, she became the first Tech player and 24th ACC player to reach 2,000 points, tied another career high (seven assists) to go with 20 points, eight rebounds and three steals as the Jackets beat Virginia for their fourth win in a row.
The Jackets will test themselves Monday against No. 2 Notre Dame (7 p.m., Fox Sports South), an undefeated team that has only had two games decided by single digits and has won its past four games by an average of 25.2 points.
Any chance Tech has will require another mammoth contribution from Marshall, who merely leads the Jackets in scoring (20.0 points per game), rebounding (7.8), steals (2.8) and is second in assists (3.3) by a fraction. She led in scoring and rebounding last year, also, but the circumstances were considerably different. Tech had just graduated a five-player senior class that had taken the Jackets to their highest peak –an appearance in the NCAA Sweet 16 – and was bringing in a seven-player freshman class.
Prior to last season, “she had people that could lessen the burden, where last year the burden fell completely on her shoulders,” Joseph said.
Marshall’s mother, Kimberly, recalled her daughter crying on the phone because of the immensity of the pressure on her to perform to give her team a chance. Tech finished 14-16, ending its six-year NCAA tournament appearance streak.
“It was tough,” Marshall said, “but it was definitely a learning experience, something to grow from, something we knew we wouldn’t let happen again this year.”
This season, Davis, Tech’s highest-profile signee in team history, has added a dependable scoring option, averaging 18.3 points per game. Forward Roddreka Rogers has taken a step forward as a sophomore.
Said Marshall’s mother, “I think that now, she’s able to get back to playing her game.”
Said Joseph, “What didn’t kill us made us stronger and so we learned some valuable lessons from what happened last year.”
With its four-game winning streak improving the record to 17-8 overall and 7-5 in the ACC, Tech has closed hard on securing an NCAA tournament berth. For Marshall, on track to graduate this spring with a management degree, all that remains is to lead the Jackets as far as they can go and leave behind more moments like her free throws that broke Kisha Ford’s all-time scoring record.
Against North Carolina, Tech was ahead 92-91 when she was fouled with 4.3 seconds remaining. Marshall was also one point behind Ford. She wasn’t keeping track, but a teammate approached her before the free throws to tell her where she stood, as if the moment wasn’t quite big enough. Marshall, a 63.0 percent free-throw shooter this season, nailed both.
“It was pressure, but I’m a senior now,” she said. “I live for moments like this.”
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