The season came to an end for the Georgia Tech women on Thursday night in the second round of the ACC women’s basketball tournament.
But the 62-54 loss to Virginia Tech at Gas South Arena in Duluth was indicative of the fight that’s first-year coach Karen Blair has used as a foundation to rebuild the program.
The Yellow Jackets trailed by as many as 15 points in the second quarter and by as many as 10 late in the third quarter. They clawed back to within 2 points early in the final quarter before seeing their comeback run out of gas.
“I’m proud of our group,” Blair said. “I’m proud of the fight and they have established this culture as a hard-working, gritty reliant team, and for them and for that, I am eternally grateful.”
The Yellow Jackets (14-18) drew to within a basket after all-conference guard Talayah Walker scored with 9:26 remaining. After the Hokies missed a pair of shots, Georgia Tech had a chance to tie the game but Catherine Alben’s driving layup rolled off. Virginia Tech answered at the other end to restore a 4-point lead and spark a 7-0 run that put it away.
“I think that fourth quarter, playing back-to-back games with seven players, we just couldn’t get those rebounds when we really needed it,” Blair said. “When you give a team a chance to shoot three times in row …”
Georgia Tech got out of the gate fast for the third straight game and built a 17-3 lead, as the Hokies missed 15 of their first 16 shots. But from there Virginia Tech outscored the Yellow Jackets 24-2 and led 29-23 at halftime.
“Georgia Tech came out punching,” Virginia Tech coach Megan Duffy said. “But after that, I thought we settled in and defensively we were a lot better. Then it was just kind of a battle of wills throughout the whole game.”
Virginia Tech (23-8) was led by Mackenzie Nelson with 14 points, nine rebounds and six assists, and Carleigh Wenzel, who scored 15 and had a pair of long-range 3s in the fourth quarter to thwart the Yellow Jackets’ comeback.
“Wenzel hitting that really big 3 and it was just a dagger at that point,” Blair said. “I thought we used a lot of energy to get it that close and she hits the 3 and it kind of takes the wind out of your sails.”
Georgia Tech was led by Walker with 20 points and eight rebounds. La’Nya Foster scored 12 and Erica Moon, who sparked the quick start in the first quarter, finished with 9 points. Brianna “Snoop” Turnage had 10 rebounds.
The game was similar to the 62-51 game that Virginia Tech won on Feb. 22 in Blacksburg.
Despite the loss, there was plenty of optimism. The Yellow Jackets fielded one of the youngest teams in the tournament and four starters from Thursday will return — Walker, Moon, Foster and center Ariadna Termis.
“We’ve got a lot of underclassmen on this roster, so it’s getting these experiences, getting through March basketball,” Blair said. “March is different. The physicality gets ramped up to a different level. Every mistake, usually somebody makes you pay.”
Walker said. “It’s been a great experience. I’m excited to see how we can keep evolving and getting better. I’m very confident with this program.”
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