Women rebound against Wake Forest

The women's basketball team won 40-37 in a tough road game at Wake Forest this past Wednesday. Tech's defense led the way in the low-scoring game and limited Wake Forest to just three field goals in the first half.

"We knew that we had to come in here and play defense and rebound, and that's how this team played today," Women's Head Coach MaChelle Joseph said. "We came in and fought hard on their end of the court, and I'm so proud of the effort that this Georgia Tech team showed today."

As the game was closing in on the two-minute mark, Wake Forest led 35-34, and Janie Mitchell hit a 15-foot jumper to give Tech the one-point advantage.

But the Demon Deacons would take the lead once more. Liz Strunk made two free throws with 1:32 left to make the score 37-36 in Wake's favor.

With 38 seconds left and the Jackets down by one, Jill Ingram stole the ball, drove down the court and made a lay-up to give Tech a 38-37 lead.

The Jackets held on to the lead, and with seven seconds left Stephanie Higgs made a pair of free throws to give the Jackets a 40-37 advantage. A last-second three point shot by Wake Forest didn't fall, and the Jackets came out with a tough ACC road win under their belts.

Higgs led the Jackets in scoring with 10 points, and was one of only two players who scored in double digits in the game. The other was Wake Forest's Strunk.

Ingram, Tech's second-highest scorer of the game, had eight points and four rebounds. Chioma Nnamaka scored seven and had eight rebounds.

These two teams have a history of playing tight contests. Last year Wake Forest and Tech played each other three times, and all three games were won by just two points, with one of those games being an overtime contest.

Because of the expanded ACC, this contest is the only regularly scheduled one between the two teams, but there's always the possibility they could meet in the ACC Tournament in Greensboro, N.C.

Last Thursday the women traveled to College Park, Md. and lost to the Terrapins 84-67. Three Tech players scored in double digits. Nnamaka scored 18 points, and Janie Mitchell had a double-double, scoring 17 points and pulling in 10 rebounds. Higgs chipped in with 14 points and 5 rebounds.

It was the 100th career win for Maryland Head Coach Brenda Frese. She spent two years at Ball State and one year at Minnesota before coming to Maryland where she is 43-36. Maryland is currently ranked No. 19 in the AP Poll.

This Sunday the Jackets return to action to play a non-conference game against the Arkansas Razorbacks. The 1 p.m. game will be played in the Gwinnett Arena.