Women's hoops hits road block

The Tech women's basketball team played twice last week and were unable to win either game. Both contests were played away from the friendly confines of Alexander Memorial Coliseum.

The Jackets dropped their first game of the season in Philadelphia to the Temple Owls 76-62. On the day after Thanksgiving, Tech played in California against the San Diego Toreros and lost in a close game, 62-59.

Tech's season record now stands at 3-2 and they will play at home against arch rival Georgia this Sunday at 2 p.m. at Alexander Memorial Coliseum.

In the first game, the Temple Owls (4-1) trailed the Jackets at half time 31-28. Tech led by as many as six points during the first half. In the opening frame, Tech's leading scorers, junior forward Janie Mitchell and junior guard Chioma Nnamaka, each had 10 points. From the field, the team shot 46.2 percent, going 12-26.

On defense, the Jackets held Temple to 40.7 percent shooting and had seven steals.

The second half was a different story. Temple scored 48 points on their way to the 76-62 victory. Temple forward Kamesha Hairston led the way for the Owls with 17 points, two rebounds, and one assist in the second half. Temple shot 65.2 percent from the field in the second half, going 15-23.

On the other side of the ball, the Jackets struggled as junior guard Chioma Nnamaka went scoreless from the field (0-8 fg). The team shot just 39.4 percent from the field, hitting only 19 of 34 shots. Part of the reason for the lower shooting percentage was due to the added number of three pointers Tech attempted to get back into the game. From outside the arc, Tech went 0-7 in the second half.

The Jackets were led by Janie Mitchell who had 18 points, eight rebounds and one assist. Senior guard Stephanie Higgs also contributed to the team effort with 11 points and four assists.

Temple was led by Kamesha Hairston's 23 points, six rebounds and four assists. Center Lady Comfort also contributed with 16 points, three rebounds and one block.

In San Diego, the Jackets lost a close game to the Toreros, where they were without point guard Jill Ingram.

For much of the game, the lead switched back and forth between the two teams. At the end of the first half, San Diego held a slim two point margin, 30-28. The two teams combined for 26 turnovers and 14 assists.

From the floor, Tech shot 44.8 percent while the Toreros scored 52 percent of the time.

The leading scorer at the half for Tech was Janie Mitchell with eight points, and for the Toreros it was forward Amber Sprague with nine points.

Both teams fought in a closely contested second half where the game was ultimately decided from the charity stripe.

San Diego hit 10 out of 12 free throws to seal the game, including two free throws by Sprague, with 13 seconds to go to put San Diego up 62-56 and clinch the victory.

For the Jackets, Janie Mitchell was the leading scorer for the second game in a row with 22 points. She also had eight rebounds and one block.

Higgs registered 38 minutes in the ball game and scored 14 points on 6 of 11 shooting from the field. She also grabbed two rebounds, dished out two assists, had two steals and had a block in the game.

For the Toreros, Sprague had a big impact on the entire game. She made 9 of 10 free throws, scored 23 points and grabbed seven rebounds.

The Jackets lost the rebounding battle 34 to 32 and had only 10 assists against 20 turnovers. On the season, Tech is averaging 20 turnovers per game and is only averaging 13.2 assists per game.

"We have definitely gotten better from that game. It made us better to have that test early on in the season," said Head CoachMaChelle Joseph.

The team returns to action on Sunday Dec. 3 against in-state rival Georgia at 2 p.m. at the Alexander Memorial Coliseum.