Georgia Tech women’s basketball drops game to Georgia

In the annual renewal of its rivalry, the Georgia and Georgia Tech women’s basketball team met on the basketball court in Atlanta on Sunday. Behind a career-high 24 points and seven rebounds from Shacobia Barbee, the No. 24 Bulldogs emerged with a 64-57 road win over the Yellow Jackets.

Kaela Davis had a team-high 20 points and eight rebounds for Georgia Tech (3-1). Roddreka Rodgers (13) and Aaliyah Whiteside (12) also scored in double-figures. Rodgers grabbed eight rebounds as well.

“The little things are the things we need to take care of,” Georgia Tech coach MaChelle Joseph said. “Our defense has improved tremendously to hold Georgia to 64 points and 20 percent field goal shooting percentage in the first half and 35 percent for the game. It says a lot about our improvement on the defensive end. We have to do a better job on the offensive end.”

The Yellow Jackets had a difficult night on the floor, shooting 33.9 percent on the night, making only three out of 19 three-pointers. They also made 12 out of 19 free throws while Georgia missed only two free throws out of 21 attempts.

Georgia’s Kristina Donald had a game-high 12 rebounds along with 11 points for a double-double. Mackenzie Engram had 12 points off the bench for the Bulldogs (4-0).

Georgia started the second half on a 13-9 run to increase its lead to 40-34 with less than 16 minutes left in the game.

Georgia Tech tied the score at 46-46 with nine minutes left on a Davis jumper. A Whiteside free throw allowed the Yellow Jackets to retake the lead 47-46 on their next possession.

With less than three minutes left in the contest, Georgia held a 56-52 lead that it wouldn’t relinquish. The Yellow Jackets made the score 56-54 on a jumper by Katarina Vuckovic with 2:20 left. However, the Bulldogs responded with a jumper by Marjorie Butler on their next possession, increasing their lead to 58-54.

The key play of the game came with one minute left when Barbee stole the ball from a driving Davis towards the basket.

Both teams struggled from the field to start the contest as Georgia Tech shot only 26.7 percent from the field through the 11:35 mark of the first half. Georgia shot 33.3 percent during that same time frame.

Trailing for much of the first half, Georgia Tech took its second lead of the contest, 24-22, with 3:52 left on a jumper by Whiteside. Despite the comeback, Georgia led 27-25 at halftime.

Davis had team-highs in points (7) and rebounds (8) at halftime for the Yellow Jackets, who shot 27.8 percent from the field, making only two out of 12 three-pointer attempts. Shacobia led all scorers with 13 first-half points for the Bulldogs while Donald also grabbed a game-high 8 rebounds. Georgia shot 26.9 percent in the first half.