Georgia Tech controlled the glass Thursday night, posting 49 rebounds just nine shy of the points they allowed the University of Maryland Eastern Shore in the Jackets’ 89-58 victory.
What happened Sunday, forgotten. Well, not really. Ariadna Termis continued to shoot the cover off the rock. Termis topped her season high (14 points) set on Sunday with an 18-point effort on 7-of-13 shooting with twice as many threes. Jordan Ode matched her teammate’s offensive output on 6-of-9 shooting, a pair of triples, and a perfect 4-for-4 from the charity stripe.
Guards Erica Moon and La’Nya Foster helped make a lot of those opportunities happen. Moon and Foster combined for seven of the Jackets’ 11 steals. It was grand larceny at McCamish.
Twenty-three of the Jackets’ 29 baskets came from assists, much to the delight of Head Coach Karen Blair. Foster, Munoz, and Walker were on the front end of 14 of those assists. Walker, who had arguably her lowest production of the season on the scoring end with 9 points, made her presence felt despite picking up two early fouls. Walker knocked down 5-of-6 free throws, pulled down 9 boards to lead the team, and forced 7 personal fouls on UMES defenders. Two Hawks, Marley Jeffers and Tahj-Monet Bloom, fouled out of the game.
Foster, like Walker without the fouls, was everywhere. She was a Swiss Army knife for the Jackets, dropping 14 points, dishing out the assists, yanking down 8 rebounds (5 offensive), and being active in the defensive passing lanes. Pass deflections, tie-ups, and making it difficult to get the ball over are actions that don’t show up on the stat sheet, at least not the ones we get, but they are super important. A good number of the Jackets’ 11 steals started as deflections. And the rest of the steals were great anticipation. Note: Erica Moon might have a track career ahead of her. The senior point guard picked off a pass in front of her coach and laid it in before the bench could jump up and celebrate. Run the tape.
While the Jackets rolled, the Hawks struggled. It didn’t start out that way. The smaller challengers from the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference were sitting in the pocket trailing by nine after the first quarter. That deficit expanded as the shooting percentage dropped from 35.7% to a woeful 20%. The Hawks shot a dismal 3-of-15 from the field, including 0-of-3 from beyond the arc.
Hawks Head Coach Malikah Willis got her squad together at the half. They responded by playing their hosts even in the third, 19-19. Atlanta product Desi Taylor (St. Francis), led the Hawks in scoring with 12 points on 4-of-7 shooting, with three of those coming from behind the arc. Makylah Moore chipped in 11 points as the only other Hawks player in double figures. Moore, a Pre-season Conference selection, made some tough baskets in the paint against the bigger Yellow Jackets post defenders.
Georgia Tech gets two days to prepare for neighboring Georgia State at 2:00 pm on Sunday inside McCamish Pavilion.