Georgia Tech Women’s Basketball Easily Beats Furman

ATLANTA — “I think I’m always looking for my shot,” said fifth year Bianca Jackson in the postgame presser after leading the Jackets with 21 points en route to an 82-41 win over Furman in the last non-conference game of the season. Tonie Morgan put up the most complete statline with an 11/10/8 double-double.

The scoring started with the usual early play setting up a Cameron Swartz three, then Bianca hit her 10th three of the season on the next possession putting Tech up 8-0.

Furman’s Sydney James hit a three and made a good layup to keep the game within five points for Furman at the 5:21 mark in the first. That layup was the last time they’d keep any sense of a small Tech lead.

Swartz did not have her best shooting early on, shooting 2-8 from the field and 1-6 beyond the arc. Tech only shot 35% in the first quarter, but assisted on all seven made baskets in what became a season-high 24 assists.

“When we can share the basketball like we did today, that’s when we’re really going to see us excel,” said Associate Head Coach Blanche Alverson in postgame.

Nerea Hermosa, who prominently played a ton of post game today, started the second quarter with a nice inside pass to Kara Dunn for a free layup. Tech scored on their first three of four possessions in the second quarter. Dunn later made a three pointer to put Tech permanently up 20 for the game.

With such a large lead so early, Inés Noguero, Avyonce Carter, and Kayla Blackshear all got good early minutes. Anisa Clark was the only Jacket to not play more than five minues, coming in at the tail end of the game.

Swartz played 13 of her 18 total minutes in the first half, missing her one attempted shot in the 2nd quarter. For a game where she still put up 11 points on 4-11 shooting, it was not a promising 11. She also was the leakiest on defense with the team worst defensive rating at 78.3.

Tonie Morgan similarly only shot 3-10, impacting far more in the rebounding and assisting. Her eight assists were a third of the team total. Her 22.2% usage rate was the most of all Tech players. Defensively she was the strongest rebounder and accounted for seven stops, tied with Noguero for most on the team.

Fortner still had the starters out on the floor to begin the 2nd half with a 42-16 lead. That lead slowly grew with Furman scoring 10+ points for the only quarter of the game. Tech outscored the Paladins 22-16 in the third. Bianca Jackson played the entire quarter, scoring seven of the 21 points.

By the fourth, even by halftime, the game was more than clearly over. Raeven Boswell and Noguero played the entire fourth quarter with a rotating cast of bench players while the older players rested.

Tonie Morgan’s completion of a three-point play at the free throw line late in the fourth got her to 11 points, matching Swartz. The play also was her fourth drawn foul of the game, most of any on the team. That free throw was the 82nd point and final point for Tech in the 82-41 win.

“Great team win today. We had a season high on assists, 24. That’s been something we’ve been talking about; moving the basketball...it was a good gift giving day right before Christmas,” said Alverson.

Only five of Tech’s 29 made buckets were not assisted. Tech scored 20 points off of Furman’s 22 turnovers, scoring on exactly half of their possessions.

A tiny smattering of notes:

• Final scheduled non-conference game of the season for both teams. Furman also played Georgia and Kennesaw State, lost both.
• 3rd Quarter Nap: Tech outscored by 24 in the 3rd quarter this season. Is the lowest scoring quarter for them and highest opponents scoring quarter. The third quarter today was the tightest of the four.
• Bianca Jackson is the 2nd Jacket to reach 10 3PM. Raeven Boswell was the only other with multiple 3PM’s today.

Georgia Tech Women’s Basketball next plays at Virginia on December 29 at 7pm. TV: ACCNX