Jackets steady in ACC Tourney first-round win over FSU

DULUTH — Georgia Tech played some of its best basketball over the last few weeks of the season, and the Jackets carried that same momentum over into the ACC Tournament this week with their 72-60 opening-round victory over Florida State being a great display of that on Wednesday afternoon at Gas South Arena just up the road in Duluth.

Georgia Tech (14-17) built a solid lead early, went up by 10 at the half and had the answer each time the Seminoles made a little run to get back in the game down the stretch as the Jackets pulled away late to seal the win.

“What can I say about this group, you guys? This team, all they know is how to fight, and they give us every single thing they have for 40 minutes every game,” Georgia Tech head coach Karen Blair said after her team’s victory. “So I’m not surprised by this today. I’m not surprised that everybody that played scored. I’m not surprised that everybody that played rebounded because they have just continued to
show up on the biggest stage. It’s just who they are. They’re just resilient, and they fight, and they’re a joy to be around every day. As their coach, I’m just thankful to be along on this journey with them.”

Florida State (10-21) cut the deficit to seven at 61-54 a little past the midway point of the fourth quarter, but Georgia Tech used some clutch buckets from multiple players to add on to its stingy defense and rebounding to go up by as many as 14 and never let the game be in doubt again.

The Jackets were led by a trio of double-digit scorers, including La’Nya Foster with a game-high 18 points to go with eight rebounds. Erica Moon added 17 points and seven rebounds with six points coming down the stretch in the fourth quarter, and Talayah Walker contributed 16 points to go with seven rebounds.

Ariadna Termis scored eight points for the Jackets, including a pair of 3-pointers while Brianna Turnage led the team in rebounds with nine. Georgia Tech won the team rebounding battle in the game 37-33.

After a pair of turnovers on the first two possessions of the game for the Jackets to spot Florida State four quick points, Tech battled back to a 14-8 lead at the 4:20 mark of the first quarter at the first media timeout.

The Jackets kept that momentum going through the end of the opening period, building a 22-16 advantage heading to the second with seven points coming from Foster.

Florida State cut the deficit to three on multiple occasions early in the second quarter, but Georgia Tech bounced back to lead by as many as 10 in the period and eventually took that same 10-point advantage (39-29) to the half. Foster led the scoring at the half with 14 points.

“If you guys have seen La’Nya’s growth this year, I am so proud of her,” said Blair. “She has now taken on the challenge for us in this ACC play to take on the other team’s best player in tough matchups. Her defense has been phenomenal. She’s taken on these challenges for us, which is great. This is what we just talked about. When she comes out in these first quarters and she’s being aggressive and being assertive, that confidence is contagious. I love when she knocks down an early shot, but one of the things her and I talk about is I always know I can rely on her defense. The other thing she is is she’s the heart of this team. If you look at any loose ball, I can guarantee you La’Nya is always the first to the floor. It has been true
to form from day one since she’s been here.”

The second half started much like the first with Georgia Tech struggling with a few consecutive turnovers to allow Florida State to cut the deficit back to 39-33, but the Jackets had the answer once again, stringing together several big buckets, including a 3 by Termis to push the lead back out to 52-40 with 3:45 remaining in the third quarter.

Tech went on to lead by as many as 14 in the third quarter before Florida State battled back a bit and cut the deficit to 56-48 going to the fourth.

The Seminoles’ top scorer in the game was Sydney Bowles with 16 points. Three others scored eight apiece for Florida State, including Pania Davis, Sole Williams and Kemariah Gerton.

Florida State forced Georgia Tech into 16 turnovers and scored 21 points off those turnovers, but the Jackets were able to take better care of the ball in the fourth quarter to help secure the win.

“Florida State is a heck of a team. You just talk about they play so freaking hard, and there’s a lot of tough matchups for us,” said Blair. “But what I’m going to say is I’m just excited for this team. Thank you to our band, our cheer, the fans. It’s nice to be here in Georgia, and it made a difference today. You just talk about they just brought a lot of energy. Our team felt it. We thank you guys for everybody that showed
out. We’re obviously excited for this tournament to be here in Georgia.”

Tech’s defense held Florida State to 37.1 percent from the field and just 20 percent from 3 (4-of-20).

Georgia Tech now advances to the next round to take on No. 6 seed Virginia Tech back at Gas South Arena 7:30 p.m. on Thursday.

“We’re going to celebrate this win right now. We’re going to take a — this is a hard game.
Winning is hard. I think sometimes people want to take it for granted. We’re going to enjoy this win and what we did, and then we’re going to turn the page and we’re going to prepare for Virginia Tech,” said Blair. “We’ll go back, we’ll have — they’ll do some recovery, we’ll get a nice meal and then we’ll sit down and do some film. And that will be the time that we turn the page. These guys, they’re professionals. They do a good job. They know how to take care of their bodies. And I think our coaching staff, we do a good job. We know they’ve got to have their legs in order to play their best. I think we’ve all built that level of trust and respect, and it’s also collaborative. We talk a lot of times about what is it you guys feel you need.”