Dani Carnegie career high 28 points
McCAMISH PAVILION — The #13 Georgia Tech Women’s Basketball stayed perfect for a continuing record 15th straight game, beating the Syracuse Orange 85-68. The win also moves Tech to a 3-0 in ACC play.
Dani Carnegie for the second straight game set her career high points in the young season, going for 28 points on 11-18 shooting and 6-8 from three, the first time she’s hit double digit field goals made or 5+ made threes. Ari Termis was the only other Jacket to hit a triple all night. Carnegie now has 20+ points in four of the last five games.
“We only hit seven threes tonight, which is on the low side for us. We’ll get back in the gym and shoot and hopefully that won’t happen to us again,” said Tech head coach Nell Fortner after the game. Tech coming in averaged 9.6 made threes a game, but tonight scored 38 in the paint.
Tonie Morgan inches closer to the 1,000 point mark, hitting 15 on the night to bring her career total to 991.
Syracuse was the first team to deliver a real blow at Tech, going up 10-1 in the first quarter and utilizing their size and speed to make life difficult for Tech.
“They mixed up their defenses. They’re in man, they’re in zone, you know, it kind of gets you off kilter a lot. I though in the forth quater we were a little bit off kilter with any kind of a smooth offense…Syracuse is a young team. Next time you see them, they’re going to be a lot better,” said Fortner.
With Syracuse’s high energy and scrappiness also brought a bevy of mistakes, resulting in 19 turnovers which Tech scored 27 points from.
Zoe Smith and Kara Dunn both were critical in the rebounding game with 12 and eight boards respectively. Kayla Blackshear contributed with five of her own off the bench in 13 minutes. Smith with 16 points earned her fourth career double-double and second as a Jacket.
The win puts Tech ahead in the all-time series with Syracuse 7-6 dating back to 2012. Tech’s 85 points is the most they’ve scored in a game against the Orange.
How it happened
1Q
Cuse hit Tech as hard as anyone has all season to start, going up 10-1 on good defense that left Tech with subpar shots and played fast on their offensive end. Fortner subbed in Dani Carnegie and Chit Chat Wright within the first two minutes, kickstarting a 6-0 run on their first possession in the game. Up to down 14-7, Tech was able to get under the basket but Syracuse did a great job on close outs and preventing open three point looks. Eventually, Carnegie got her open three to draw Tech within four before Kara Dunn and Wright finished a 7-0 run to tie at 14-14 near the end of the quarter.
2Q (16-16)
Guns continued blazing for Tech with an 8-0 run from a Morgan three point play, a Termis triple, and a Zoe Smith putback coming off multiple Syracuse travel calls. Georgia Woolley single handedly kept Cuse from sliding with two threes to pull Cuse within five at 27-22. From there, Tech really pressed on the gas for a 13-5 run with multiple Dani Carnegie buckets and higher involvement from Zoe Smith on the offensive side after she struggled in the first quarter. Tech shot 55% in the quarter despite going only 2-12 from the three point line in the half. Woolley was Tech’s only major problem, scoring 10 in the quarter but did have four turnovers.
3Q (44-31 GT)
Tech’s offense stayed centered in the paint coming out of half, hitting layups by Morgan, Termis, and Carnegie that kept the lead at 15 points over the first couple minutes. Syracuse’s interior defense stepped up a level in the quarter to counter Tech’s focus underneath, eventually giving space for Carnegie to hit a couple threes (and leaving Wright open for multiple attempts). Kayla Blackshear was a continuing physical force doing well to get offensive boards, at points ripping the ball out of Cuse’s hands. Despite falling behind in shooting percentage, Tech comfortably held a double digit lead.
4Q (65-51 GT)
The Carnegie show continued with eight early points to reach 25 points on the game to reset her young career high points record. Syracuse’s physcality kept being a pest for Tech, eventually breaking on both ends of the floor enought to create an 11-0 run for the Orange, but it only pulled them to a 79-62 deficit. Of course, Carnegie hit another three to quell any potential further run by Syracuse, who ended up not scoring a field goal for the final four minutes as Tech comfortably pulled away with the win.
Stats & Game Leaders
Stats via Georgia Tech
Game Leaders
Points: Dani Carnegie (GT) – 28
Assists: Tonie Morgan (GT) – 6
Rebounds: Zoe Smith (GT) – 12
3PM: Dani Carnegie (GT) – 6
Turnovers: Georgia Woolley (CUSE) – 7
#13 Georgia Tech Women’s Basketball has a week off before their next game on Thursday January 9 back in McCamish against Virginia Tech.