Yellow Jacket Roundup: Fits and Starts

ATLANTA, GEORGIA - The week started out well, but took a nasty left turn come Saturday.

Women’s Basketball

Thursday, January 4th: Georgia Tech (11 - 3) knocks off Boston College (11 - 3), 81-76.

Sunday, January 6th: Notre Dame (14 - 1) defeats Georgia Tech (11 - 4), 76-55.

To quote the preview of the Notre Dame game, in their first conference game,

“the Yellow Jackets turned a healthy shooting performance into an eight point lead at the halftime break. The Eagles were able to stay in the game, bringing Tech down to the wire. However, strong free throws in the final minutes, as ever, kept them at arms length. The pair of freshmen stars named Elizabeth, Balogun and Dixon, each secured a double-double and this incredibly young team has really built successfully on the solid foundation this program had thanks to the strong stewardship of this coaching staff.”

The box score backs up this optimistic take, as Tech put four scorers into double figures and dominated the glass on both ends of the court against a strong Boston College team. This boded well going into Sunday’s tilt with the defending champs, though, ultimately, they weren’t successful.

Having only arrived from Hartsfield-Jackson in time for the second half, this intrepid reporter walked into the game with the Yellow Jackets already in a substantial hole, trailing 39-22 at the half. However, just a perusal of the box score yields a roughly 20% shooting margin in the second quarter, though our resident podcast host will probably rant about missed calls on the next edition of Scions of the Southland. To their credit, the Jackets played more or less evenly with the Fighting Irish in the second half. They weren’t terribly out-rebounded, but any opponent that shoots more than 50% from the field is a tough out. And as rough of a game as it was for Tech, it wasn’t nearly as bad as it has been for the vast majority of the sacrificial lambs on the Notre Dame schedule. This game was tighter than the final score indicated. As the freshmen get stronger on defense, that bodes well for the rest of the season, and, indeed, the next three years.

This week: Tech hosts Duke before hitting the road to face the always-competitive Louisville Cardinals.

No. 20/NR Swimming and Diving

Tech ventured up to Auburn and promptly got wrecked in both men’s and women’s competition. The men noticeably lacked a certain Brazilian superstar whose name rhymes with...well, it doesn’t really rhyme with much but you know who I’m talking about. Anyways, Tech’s lone event win came via Corben Miles in the 50 Freestyle, though the 400 IM was a strong event, with Brennan Day, Tim Slanschek, and Colt Williamson finishing in second, third, and fourth respectively. Meanwhile, the women, led as always by the distance and sprint pair of upperclassmen in Emily Ilgenfritz and Iris Wang, managed a noticeable two-three-four finish in the 200 breaststroke. All in all, not a great showing, especially by the nationally-regarded men, but, really, it’s just good to get in racing coming off of winter workouts. The clock will really start to tick come the end of the month.

This week: Tech is off until hosting South Carolina January 19th.

For Men’s Basketball Coverage:

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This Week on the Flats:

BOLD for home, REGULAR for away, ITALIC for time and location

Monday: OFF

Tuesday: OFF

Wednesday:
Men’s Basketball vs. VPISU
7:00 PM, McCamish Pavilion, ACC Network Extra / Regional Affiliates, and the Georgia Tech IMG Basketball Radio Network (WCNN 680 AM / 93.7 FM Atlanta)

Thursday:
Women’s Basketball vs. Duke
7:00 PM, McCamish Pavilion, ACC Network Extra and WREK 91.1

Friday:
Track and Field at the Clemson Invitational
All day, Clemson, SC

Saturday:
Men’s Basketball at Syracuse
6:00 PM, Syracuse, NY, ESPN2 and the Georgia Tech IMG Basketball Radio Network (WCNN 680 AM / 93.7 FM Atlanta)

Track and Field at the Clemson Invitational
All day, Clemson, SC

Sunday:
Women’s Basketball at Louisville
2:00 PM, Louisville, KY, ACC Network Extra and WREK 91.1