Jackets' defense shines in victory for Karen Blair's debut on The Flats
First-year Georgia Tech head coach Karen Blair said recently at the ACC Tip-Off in Charlotte in October that her team would hang its hat on defense.
The Jackets’ performance in the season opener bore that out in a big way as they held Radford to 22 percent from the field and 36 points in an 82-36 win that included Tech shutting out the visitors altogether in an 11-0 second quarter.
“One of the things we’ve talked about a lot as a program is we wanted to hang our hats on our defense and our rebounding,” said Blair, who was hired to lead the program early last April following the retirement of Nell Fortner. “I think you guys saw that today that this team really came in locked in. I mean holding a team scoreless or 0-for-12 in that second quarter, and then more impressively is I thought we stayed consistent with it throughout the game. We didn’t let up on that end of the basketball.”
Georgia Tech (1-0) was led in the win by Talayah Walker with a game-high 16 points to go along with seven rebounds. Catherine Alben came off the bench to provide a big lift offensively as one of three Jackets in double figures with 14 points, and D’Asia Thomas-Harris was the other with 10 points to go with nine rebounds as she fell just short of the double-double.
Ines Noguero and Jada Crawshaw each added nine points, and Ariadna Termis contributed eight points and seven rebounds. Blair was excited about the overall balanced performance from her team with so many different players contributing as she said they are still trying to figure out where all the production is going to come from this season.
“I would absolutely love for our bench to come in and give us 41 points every game,” Blair said with a laugh when talking about the depth and balance of her team’s performance on Thursday. “Actually it’s king of how it is. This starting group, they have really been able to jell offensively and defensively, which we’ve seen in practice. And I don’t know. I don’t know if it will just be this full unit, but what you see is that we come off our bench and all the sudden bring in a lot of speed and this defensive prowess that they just have. So for a coach that’s fun. Like you have different lineups that we’re going to be able to play, getting into it. So what it looks like in the future, this is getting in November I think this is what we’re trying to figure out is what are these lineups, what are these matchups and really trying to hone in on what the identity is going to be for our group.”
After a bit of a back-and-forth first quarter that finished up with the Jackets leading 13-10, Tech’s defense dominated in the second quarter, shutting out Radford and forcing several turnovers on the way to a 14-0 run to end the half and a 24-10 lead at the break.
The same theme continued in the third with the Jackets’ defense holding Radford to two made field goals and five free throw as Tech outscored them 26-9.
The Jackets closed out the game with another dominant quarter in the fourth, outscoring Radford 32-17, to put the finishing touches on the season-opening victory with the best offensive period of the game for the home team.
After the slow offensive start to the game, Blair said there were a few factors that led to her team’s offense getting going in the second half.
“I think we finally got into our transition game,” said Blair. “I think in that first half we were not quite playing at the pace that we want to be able to play at. We were playing more of a half-court game, and then I thought you saw in that second half we were able to get into that press early, be able to get some steals, but really we were just trying and wanting to get out in transition and play less of a half-court game. So I think that’s the difference, and then once the momentum started building then the shots started to fall. But I thought also our defense was able to create those D to O points, and we were able to convert them.”
Georgia Tech was also dominant on the boards in the game, out-rebounding Radford 51 to 23, and displayed unselfish offense with 24 assists on 28 made baskets. Brianna Turnage led the Jackets in rebounds with 11 while Erica Moon had the top assist total with six.
“From a rebounding standpoint, when you’re getting 51 rebounds…and we got a lot of offensive rebounds as well and also limiting them to only two second-chance points…So I think that’s a lot about what we have to be,” said Blair. “The sharing of the basketball is something that we’ve been talking about constantly, and as a coach when you can start to see 24 assists on 28 made baskets you know you’re playing the game the right way. That is very unselfish basketball.”
Radford, which scored 17 of its 36 total points in the third quarter, didn’t have a scorer reach double figures as they were led by Adelyn Traylor-Walker with nine points. Cherish Haywood added five.
Blair was very appreciative of the way her team played and thankful for the chance to open her career as the Jackets’ head coach with a big win.
“You know this is special,” Blair said of win No. 1 on The Flats. “Your first time as the head coach here at Georgia Tech, to get this win, it’s like what I just shared with the team…This is a group that’s believed in me. They came here and those that stayed, for me that’s really a special moment to be able to share that with them and then just the way that they played and the way they performed today. So for me this will stick with me. The first one is always a special one, and I’m so grateful I got to do it with this group.”
Georgia Tech will continue its early-season schedule on Sunday when it hosts Princeton at 2 p.m. back at McCamish.
Radford (0-2) will be back home on Friday to host Emory & Henry at 4 p.m.
