#NR/NR GEORGIA TECH YELLOW JACKETS 8 –11 (3-4 ACC)
NCAA NET 97 (UNC 21); Massey Rating 80 (UNC 23); RPI 124 (Nolan) (UNC 44); Torvik 89 (UNC 19)
Last season 22-11 (9-9, 9th); 1-1 ACCT, NCAAT 0-1, (Lost to Richmond. 49-74)
Thursday night’s game for the 15-5 and #28/21 Tar Heels is with Georgia Tech at the McCamish Pavilion in Atlanta. Tech is not ranked in either poll. UNC and Tech have met 84 times and the Heels hold an overall lead of 62-22. Games at Atlanta have not gone well in recent years and the Heels are 3-4 in the last seven UNC did win two years ago in Atlanta 73-68 behind Deja Kelly’s 27 points.
Last year at Carmichael UNC took a painful loss 76-82 to GT. Carolina was 10-1 in non-conference play, the only loss being to UConn. GTech, then ranked #25, got 23 points from Tonie Morgan and 13 from Kara Dunn, plus 22 from reserve Dani Carnegie. Tech also won the rebounding 41-24. The game was the ACC opener and would be the first of four ACC home games the Heels would lose.
For Thursday’s game UNC is favored by 9 with Massey, by 11 according to Nolan and by 13 by Torvik’s reckoning.
Georgia Tech’s non-conference games included a hosting of in-state opponents in the mid-major ranks. Tech opened with Radford (82-36), followed by home wins with Princeton (67-61), Charleston Southern (87-40), Jacksonville (69-64), and West Georgia (68-60) The U. of Georgia, in a game played in Stegeman Coliseum in Atlanta, got some payback for the previous year’s loss 87-59. A trip to lovely Cayman Islands for the CI Classic had games with St. John’s (L 75-77) and Florida (L 56-65).
Texas A&M was the opponent in the ACC/SEC Challenge, GT losing 63-72. Norfolk State was a home win 72-57 but a road trip to West Virginia was a different tale, a 50-82 loss. It might be noted here that although the Jacket’s non-conference record was 5-7 and with the exception of the blowout loss to the Mountaineers and the Georgia loss, the other five losses were reasonably competitive – average loss by 8 points..
Conference play started in December, as it does for all ACC teams and GT started 0-2 with losses at Wake Forest 56-57 and at NCSU 58-87. The Wake loss came on a pair of Deacon FTs with :04 on the clock. The next game will no doubt be remembered by the home town fans as one of the season’s high points as the Jackets dumped #18 Notre Dame 95-90 in overtime.
ACC play continued with a trip to Dallas and a 67-59 win with SMU. The Virginia game at McCamish was another tough loss, 59-61. Again it was the opponents’ FTs with 14 seconds left that sealed the win. Tech hosted Clemson and with the Jackets getting the last second free throws a 58-55 victory. That would not be their fate however in the next game, as dook scored early and often for a 93-46 win.
UNC is up next. If it resembles previous UNC-GT games this one will be a hotly contested. Tech trails UNC in ACC standings by a game, 3-4 against 4-3. A Tech win puts them even with the tiebreaker in hand. At this point in the season, neither team can afford another conference loss.
The GT starting lineup has undergone major changes, as Tonie Morgan headed off to Kentucky, Kara Dunn to Southern Cal , Kayla Blackshear and Zoe Smith to graduation. All started or were significant reserves in last year’s game. Also gone is 6th player Dani Carnegie , to Georgia (treason!), reserve Gabbie Grooms to Georgia State (less treasonous), and Tianna Thompson to Ole Miss.
One returning starter is Inés Noguero, a 5-9 senior G from Spain who added 8.3 ppg - when she was playing. She started the first four games and has not played since. I have searched the internet and have found not one mention of any reason why. This is BS. If it were a player on the men’s side there would be plenty of information. So who knows? She could reappear at any time.
So, who is playing? Three players have started every game; they are Talayah Walker, a 5-10 sophomore G, Ariadna Termis, a 6-6 junior C, and Erica Moon, a 5-6 redshirt sophomore PG. Walker is a transfer from Penn State and is the leading scorer at 16.2 ppg. She ranks #7 in ACC scoring and has put up two 30-point games so far. Erica Moon who came from two years at Texas A&M, averages 4.5 ppg and leads in assists.
Termis is a veteran with 42 starts for GT over the last two years she averages 3.6 ppg and 3.5 rpg. She will shoot threes if left unattended and did so in our game two years ago. Coach CB found this annoying and assigned Teonni Key to watch her. It worked.
The TP provided more players to fill vacancies, including 6-1 5th year Savannah Samuel from BC (7.9/2.2); 6-1 senior Briana Turnage from FSU (4.8/9.0); La’Nya Foster a 5-10 junior G from Austin Peay (7.1/3.6); Catherine Alben, a 5-7 senior PG from Charleston Southern (10.7/3.1); and finally Australia’s Jada Crawshaw, a 6-0 junior F last seen at Long Beach State (6.6/3.7). In a nine player active roster, all have played and Turnage (17), Samuel (8) and Foster (8) all have starts.
There is one other returning player from last season, 6-2 junior W D’Asia Thomas-Harris (5.9/4.6). She and Crawshaw represent the deeper part of the bench. GT did recruit two freshmen, 6-1 C McKayla Taylor, and 5-11 G Leyre Urdiain from Spain. Neither has played although Urdiain is known to be on IR. One other transfer, 6-5 sophomore C Déborah Mukeba from BC, has not played either.
Statistically, GT has numbers in some areas that would show an advantage over the Tar Heels. Of course a league-leading FT percentage of 82.2% is one, although UNC having gone 19 of 19 in their last two outings are now, in conference games, 11th at .717. GT is marginally better at defensive rebounding but otherwise the comparative numbers would favor Carolina in every category. One thing to note: GT is a lousy 3-point team, dead last in the ACC at 23.3% (31 of 133).
Might also note that Carolina’s Nyla Harris shows up in a number of categories: 60% from the floor, #3 ACC; also #18 in overall rebounding (6.16). Ciera Toomey is #15 on that list (6.55). Indya Nivar is #2 in steals with 3.05 per game.
Georgia Tech has a new coach. Former HC Nell Fortner retired in April and her replacement is Karen Blair, former associate head coach at Maryland. She is a SMU graduate (’99) where she was a three year starter at point guard and where she spent the next ten years after graduation as an assistant coach. Speaking of Maryland, Blair’s new assistant is Marsha Frese, sister of Brenda (HC at MD) who also was on staff with the Terps. The good thing about being a new coach is that Blair doesn’t have to take a fan drubbing for GT’s embarrassing 25-point loss to Richmond in the NCAAs last year.
Carolina’s last outing was a solid 82-55 win against FSU, largely due to controlling the boards 40-28 and getting 28 points from the bench. Three point shooting was a decent 36.1% and 9 for 9 from the line helped as well. There were 16 turnovers, some the result of the always over-officious Eric Brewton crew of officials.
Beating Georgia Tech, or indeed any decent ACC team, will require an error-free approach in terms of turnovers, missed layups, questionable shot selection, and so on. Frankly, FSU was not a good team and Georgia Tech has done a better job with their roster even though team leaders like Morgan and Dunn departed. The Jackets have always been a tough out at home and right now, neither team can afford another loss. Carolina is moving into the heart of the season with games upcoming with 6-2 Syracuse and Moo U.
Carolina has moved back into the top 25 in the Coaches’ Poll at #21 – taking the place of Notre Dame which dropped out of the poll. Since the Irish beat the Heels by 23 points, having them drop in NET and out of polls is not helping. Only wins will help.
Game time is 8 PM EST and TV coverage will be provided by ACCN. There will be radio as well.
NCAA NET 97 (UNC 21); Massey Rating 80 (UNC 23); RPI 124 (Nolan) (UNC 44); Torvik 89 (UNC 19)
Last season 22-11 (9-9, 9th); 1-1 ACCT, NCAAT 0-1, (Lost to Richmond. 49-74)
Thursday night’s game for the 15-5 and #28/21 Tar Heels is with Georgia Tech at the McCamish Pavilion in Atlanta. Tech is not ranked in either poll. UNC and Tech have met 84 times and the Heels hold an overall lead of 62-22. Games at Atlanta have not gone well in recent years and the Heels are 3-4 in the last seven UNC did win two years ago in Atlanta 73-68 behind Deja Kelly’s 27 points.
Last year at Carmichael UNC took a painful loss 76-82 to GT. Carolina was 10-1 in non-conference play, the only loss being to UConn. GTech, then ranked #25, got 23 points from Tonie Morgan and 13 from Kara Dunn, plus 22 from reserve Dani Carnegie. Tech also won the rebounding 41-24. The game was the ACC opener and would be the first of four ACC home games the Heels would lose.
For Thursday’s game UNC is favored by 9 with Massey, by 11 according to Nolan and by 13 by Torvik’s reckoning.
Georgia Tech’s non-conference games included a hosting of in-state opponents in the mid-major ranks. Tech opened with Radford (82-36), followed by home wins with Princeton (67-61), Charleston Southern (87-40), Jacksonville (69-64), and West Georgia (68-60) The U. of Georgia, in a game played in Stegeman Coliseum in Atlanta, got some payback for the previous year’s loss 87-59. A trip to lovely Cayman Islands for the CI Classic had games with St. John’s (L 75-77) and Florida (L 56-65).
Texas A&M was the opponent in the ACC/SEC Challenge, GT losing 63-72. Norfolk State was a home win 72-57 but a road trip to West Virginia was a different tale, a 50-82 loss. It might be noted here that although the Jacket’s non-conference record was 5-7 and with the exception of the blowout loss to the Mountaineers and the Georgia loss, the other five losses were reasonably competitive – average loss by 8 points..
Conference play started in December, as it does for all ACC teams and GT started 0-2 with losses at Wake Forest 56-57 and at NCSU 58-87. The Wake loss came on a pair of Deacon FTs with :04 on the clock. The next game will no doubt be remembered by the home town fans as one of the season’s high points as the Jackets dumped #18 Notre Dame 95-90 in overtime.
ACC play continued with a trip to Dallas and a 67-59 win with SMU. The Virginia game at McCamish was another tough loss, 59-61. Again it was the opponents’ FTs with 14 seconds left that sealed the win. Tech hosted Clemson and with the Jackets getting the last second free throws a 58-55 victory. That would not be their fate however in the next game, as dook scored early and often for a 93-46 win.
UNC is up next. If it resembles previous UNC-GT games this one will be a hotly contested. Tech trails UNC in ACC standings by a game, 3-4 against 4-3. A Tech win puts them even with the tiebreaker in hand. At this point in the season, neither team can afford another conference loss.
The GT starting lineup has undergone major changes, as Tonie Morgan headed off to Kentucky, Kara Dunn to Southern Cal , Kayla Blackshear and Zoe Smith to graduation. All started or were significant reserves in last year’s game. Also gone is 6th player Dani Carnegie , to Georgia (treason!), reserve Gabbie Grooms to Georgia State (less treasonous), and Tianna Thompson to Ole Miss.
One returning starter is Inés Noguero, a 5-9 senior G from Spain who added 8.3 ppg - when she was playing. She started the first four games and has not played since. I have searched the internet and have found not one mention of any reason why. This is BS. If it were a player on the men’s side there would be plenty of information. So who knows? She could reappear at any time.
So, who is playing? Three players have started every game; they are Talayah Walker, a 5-10 sophomore G, Ariadna Termis, a 6-6 junior C, and Erica Moon, a 5-6 redshirt sophomore PG. Walker is a transfer from Penn State and is the leading scorer at 16.2 ppg. She ranks #7 in ACC scoring and has put up two 30-point games so far. Erica Moon who came from two years at Texas A&M, averages 4.5 ppg and leads in assists.
Termis is a veteran with 42 starts for GT over the last two years she averages 3.6 ppg and 3.5 rpg. She will shoot threes if left unattended and did so in our game two years ago. Coach CB found this annoying and assigned Teonni Key to watch her. It worked.
The TP provided more players to fill vacancies, including 6-1 5th year Savannah Samuel from BC (7.9/2.2); 6-1 senior Briana Turnage from FSU (4.8/9.0); La’Nya Foster a 5-10 junior G from Austin Peay (7.1/3.6); Catherine Alben, a 5-7 senior PG from Charleston Southern (10.7/3.1); and finally Australia’s Jada Crawshaw, a 6-0 junior F last seen at Long Beach State (6.6/3.7). In a nine player active roster, all have played and Turnage (17), Samuel (8) and Foster (8) all have starts.
There is one other returning player from last season, 6-2 junior W D’Asia Thomas-Harris (5.9/4.6). She and Crawshaw represent the deeper part of the bench. GT did recruit two freshmen, 6-1 C McKayla Taylor, and 5-11 G Leyre Urdiain from Spain. Neither has played although Urdiain is known to be on IR. One other transfer, 6-5 sophomore C Déborah Mukeba from BC, has not played either.
Statistically, GT has numbers in some areas that would show an advantage over the Tar Heels. Of course a league-leading FT percentage of 82.2% is one, although UNC having gone 19 of 19 in their last two outings are now, in conference games, 11th at .717. GT is marginally better at defensive rebounding but otherwise the comparative numbers would favor Carolina in every category. One thing to note: GT is a lousy 3-point team, dead last in the ACC at 23.3% (31 of 133).
Might also note that Carolina’s Nyla Harris shows up in a number of categories: 60% from the floor, #3 ACC; also #18 in overall rebounding (6.16). Ciera Toomey is #15 on that list (6.55). Indya Nivar is #2 in steals with 3.05 per game.
Georgia Tech has a new coach. Former HC Nell Fortner retired in April and her replacement is Karen Blair, former associate head coach at Maryland. She is a SMU graduate (’99) where she was a three year starter at point guard and where she spent the next ten years after graduation as an assistant coach. Speaking of Maryland, Blair’s new assistant is Marsha Frese, sister of Brenda (HC at MD) who also was on staff with the Terps. The good thing about being a new coach is that Blair doesn’t have to take a fan drubbing for GT’s embarrassing 25-point loss to Richmond in the NCAAs last year.
Carolina’s last outing was a solid 82-55 win against FSU, largely due to controlling the boards 40-28 and getting 28 points from the bench. Three point shooting was a decent 36.1% and 9 for 9 from the line helped as well. There were 16 turnovers, some the result of the always over-officious Eric Brewton crew of officials.
Beating Georgia Tech, or indeed any decent ACC team, will require an error-free approach in terms of turnovers, missed layups, questionable shot selection, and so on. Frankly, FSU was not a good team and Georgia Tech has done a better job with their roster even though team leaders like Morgan and Dunn departed. The Jackets have always been a tough out at home and right now, neither team can afford another loss. Carolina is moving into the heart of the season with games upcoming with 6-2 Syracuse and Moo U.
Carolina has moved back into the top 25 in the Coaches’ Poll at #21 – taking the place of Notre Dame which dropped out of the poll. Since the Irish beat the Heels by 23 points, having them drop in NET and out of polls is not helping. Only wins will help.
Game time is 8 PM EST and TV coverage will be provided by ACCN. There will be radio as well.
