Lady Tigers Fall at Georgia Tech on Thursday Night

Feb. 17, 2011

ATLANTA, GA – The Lady Tigers stayed with Georgia Tech for much of the first half, but the Yellow Jackets (20-8, 8-4 ACC) pulled away in the second for a 72-46 win in Atlanta. The Lady Tigers (10-17, 3-9 ACC) had only nine turnovers in the second half, but couldn’t overcome 33.3 percent shooting on the night.

The Lady Tigers feature six players from the state of Georgia, all of whom saw the floor in the contest. Woodstock native, Kirstyn Wright had nine points, all on three-pointers.

Jasmine Tate had her second straight game in double-figures, scoring ten points on 2-6 from the floor and 6-8 from the line.

Kelia Shelton added eight points, including a 2-2 mark from behind the arc in the contest.

After going in to halftime with an eight point lead, Tech outscored the Tigers 46-28 in the second half to pull away for the win. The Tigers outrebounded the Jackets in the first half, but Tech posted a 22-10 advantage in the second half.

The Jackets controlled the paint, scoring 26 points in the paint in the second half and finishing with 40 overall, while allowing Clemson just 16 points inside. The Tigers did hit 6-18 from behind the arc and shot the three with the same proficiency as the two (11-33).

The offense for both teams was slow in the first half, with neither team going into the break shooting above 33.3 percent. The Yellow Jackets went into halftime with a 26-18 lead after holding Clemson to an 8-25 mark from the field, while Clemson’s defense held Tech to 33.3 percent (11-33).

The difference was the Jackets trapping defense, which forced 17 first-half turnovers form the Tigers. The Tigers outrebounded Georgia Tech, despite Georgia Tech entering the game that on average, outrebounded opponents by 7.8 per game.

Mason had six to lead all players in the frame, while she and Wright each scored six points to lead Clemson. The Tigers also surpassed their season average of 4.8 blocks per game with five in the half, led by Shaniqua Pauldo’s career-high-tying three.

After a Sthefany Thomas three cut the Tech lead to seven at 30-23 with 18:38 to play, the Jackets answered with a 20-7 run to take a 50-30 lead with 11:55 to play.

The Lady Tigers have a week off before taking on Wake Forest on Feb. 24 in Littlejohn Coliseum in the final home game of the season. Clemson will honor four graduating players, Kirstyn Wright, Jasmine Tate, and Bryelle Smith, before the game.